The NATO DEEP eAcademy e-Instructor Certification Programme, subject number 6, “E-teacher and e-learning team – competencies and tasks,” has concluded. This topic explained the roles and duties of the e-Learning Team while also outlining the steps in the review process. Additionally, the students learnt how to create an outline for their e-learning project and an e-learning project plan. Two SME’s served as the subject’s instructors: Gigi Roman and Alin Bodescu.
We continue our journey with Questions and Answers with NATO DEEP eAcademy’s experts. This time we asked Gigi Roman and Alin Bodescu about their experience in the area of distance learning.
Question 1.
What are the key competencies and skills required to be an effective e-instructor?
The e-instructor should be first an excellent teacher, having excellent pedagogical and didactic skills in physical environment. Then, the e-instructor should be capable of adapting and trabsfering these skills to a virtual environment. Among the critical competencies, I would mention:
· very good knowledge of the LMS (e.g., ILIAS) and video platform (e.g., BBB) used to deliver the e-training.
· capable to engage the learner with both synchronous and asynchronous methods and gauge the time required by learners of various expertise and e-competence.
· able to design engaging content using various SCORM-compliant authoring tools.
· aware of the very large gap of knowledge, competencies, technical skills, and willingness to use e-learning tools among the audience of a e-learning activity.
· Able to provide and get feedback from “behind the screen”.
Question 2.
How can you collaborate effectively with other instructors, support staff, and administrators in an online learning environment?
An e-training community may be very heterogenous and suffer from limited physical interaction. Occasional physical meetings are highly encouraged. For the regular collaboration:
· use embedded features of the LMS such as forum, mail, wiki, videoconferencing.
· use parallel channels of mailing or instant messaging.
Question 3.
What are some effective strategies for managing your time and workload as an e-instructor?
e-Learning is a very high time-consuming activity. Therefore, developing scalable products, anticipating the possibilities to reuse the content, recycling content may help avoid wasting time in repetitive activities. The virtual environment is conducive to adult learning methods. Adults prefer to set their pace, establish objectives which are not always aligned with those of other colleagues and trainers. Flipping the class, by providing learners in advance with clear instructions and asynchronous theoretical and simple tasks in preparation of interactive and snappy synchronous sessions may help very much.
Question 4.
How can you ensure that your instructional materials are accessible and inclusive for all learners?
Being aware of the very large gap of knowledge, competencies, technical skills, and willingness to use e-learning tools among the audience of a e-learning activity, the e-instructor should use simple language, avoid acronyms and technical jargon, develop modular courses, where the key content is very accessible and mandatory and more complex one is suggested material for the willing and more capable learners.
Question 5.
How to grow an e-learning Dream Team?
E-learning teams may have the members in remote areas, meeting occasionally. An initial and then regular physical meetings can help form-up the team, establish the contact and create trust that will be key for the subsequent human connection within the group. Having key skills covered by more than one expert can allow for a flexible allocation of tasks and prevent the skills unavailability during critical moments of content development.