Showing posts with label excellence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label excellence. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Summary - Competences for Online Teaching: A Special Report

Source

Goodyear, P., Salmon, Gilly, Spector, M., Steeples, C. and Tickner, S. (2001) ‘Competencies for online teaching’, Educational Technology Research & Development , 49(1), pp. 65-72, [online] Available from: http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/resourcepage/view.php?id=90970 (Accessed 11 November 2008).



Compared with Hillier, this piece provides a more systematic approach to identifying the different competencies of an online teacher. It starts by identifying the many roles an online teacher may be asked to assume. Then it looks at the skill set / tasks required to carry out these roles to produce a comprehensive "competencies" list for an online teacher.

Roles involved in online teaching
  • researcher
  • assessor
  • adviser
  • process facilitator
  • content facilitator
  • technologist
  • designer
  • manager / administrator

Under one of these roles .... we might have "tasks" listed
  • process facilitator
  • welcoming
  • establishing ground rules
  • creating a community
  • managing communications
  • modelling social behaviour
  • establishing own identity
One could mine these tasks to generate a list of competencies
  • challenge participants but support them individually and as a group
  • tolerate ambiguity when working with individuals and groups
  • etc.

Noted by Goodyear was how it was implied in the final lists an educational philosophy . One valuing
  • democratization of learning
  • inclussiveness
  • increasing student responsibility for learning
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No mention of the word excellence... but definitely inferring the need for someone who aspires to becoming an online teacher or who already calls themselves one - to reflect on how well they feelthey understand and have mastered these many competencies. Produce evidence to support their development in these area

I can also well imagine for those who came up with the lists, that the task would have been an equally demanding one - demanding a great deal of reflection on one's practice.

Summary - Promoting excellence in HE - Hillier article

Source

Hillier, Yvonne (n.d.) ‘The quest for competence, good practice and excellence’, The Higher Education Academy, [online] Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id494_quest_for_competence.pdf (Accessed 11 November 2008).



Attempts made to identify qualities of excellence. To formally recognize it and in doing so promote good practices to realizing it.
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NTFS (National teaching Fellowship Scheme - UK
criteria for rating submissions for teaching excellence
  • ability to inspire students
  • ability to inspire colleagues
  • ability to inspire broader community
  • enable Ss to achieve learning outcomes
  • demonstrate reflective practice in their teaching
  • innovation
  • promotion
  • presentation
  • sharing and promoting good practice

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Research on the subject by Vielba and Hillier, 2000.
Administrators focussed on organizational qualities
  • planning
  • resources
  • explicitly stated outcomes
Teachers and students focussed on affective / personal qualities
  • enthusiasm
  • creativity
  • interpersonal skills
Students noted the importance of "communication skills"

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So using criteria for judging excellence is dead.. long live the role of research and reflection in promoting excellence (?)

That's sort of what I'm left with here after reading the Hillier article. So there is not true set of criteria to realize what is deemed to be "excellence" in teaching. Rather we know what is needed to encourage personal and professional development to make anyone a better educator - namely "research" to inform "reflection on our practices" and this to inform our "professional practice".

Seems to support my earlier opinion about using the term "expert" - calling myself an expert on anything. I am more comfortable declaring myself someone who is a reflective practitioner thus continually under development. The alternative? To stay the same .... to not grow .. to fossilize.