Online Teaching Vs Face-to-face Teaching

According to some, we are at the beginning of an online teaching "hype" - really? This article analyses virtual teaching vs teaching in person.

For many people, one obstacle towards making the shift to virtual learning/teaching is the fact that they miss "real" human interaction. The absence of body language and eye contact may seem weird at first but this can to some extent be substituted online by using e.g. emoticons. This is also not helped by the fact that learning online can seem quite isolating - for this reason it is paramount that a tutor sets tasks collaboratively and offers maximum support. This is just one reason as to why an online tutor may be busier than a F2F tutor, especially as the main course components are delivered asynchronously. Time management - both for learners and tutors - is therefore crucial.

To some respect, VLE users have to re-learn their social skills to adapt them to an online environment. Social faux-pax include sending a hurried, emotional message that can lead to mis-understandings, trolling, using capital letters etc. We cannot go into the finer nuances of real conversation, so what someone writes and in what manner this is done becomes all the more important. How does this affect our personalities? An impulsive or extroverted person, who in "real" life says a thing or two too quickly, may need to re-think something before writing it down. A shier or introverted person may on the other hand find it easier to communicate in an online asynchronous environment.

Essentially, most aspects of learning are still the same and the principal role of teachers and students does not change. For example, a tutor should ensure that everyone is comfortable on the course and that the right climate is set from the very beginning. This may include encouraging people to communicate more, and ensuring that any ice-breaking activities are very easy to understand and interesting for all participants. Classroom management becomes all the more important, as most of the information is written down and can be referred back to - this may include a zero tolerance approach for anyone who is disrespectful to their tutor and peers. A tutor should also remember that there are various learner types, as we have revisited in our task about Kolb's learner types. There are various psychoanalytical models, subject to who you favour, however, the quintessential message is that every person falls into a specific learner category, and that a teacher should work with their learners' specific personalities to maximise their potential.

In conclusion, online courses initially present a greater challenge both to tutors and to learners, however, it is worth trying to overcome these, as with the right ingredients online courses can be interesting, motivating and dynamic. After all, the focus is still on achieving learning goals through human interaction - simply delivered through a different medium.