The online revolution in higher education has started decades ago and is by no means something new. But it has experienced a tremendous boost caused by the massive restrictions that we went through in 2020. Countless courses taught in physical classrooms in the past were migrated to the virtual space. The fact that teaching takes now place online certainly does not mean a direct step forward for online education. Online education does not define itself through teaching via electronic media. It means making use of tools and structures that the online space offers and that are not available in traditional classroom teaching. In many cases, this is not what characterizes COVID-19-induced online teaching. Merely, classroom teaching has just been transferred to “Zoom” or “Teams” rooms. Hodges and coworkers addressed this issue nicely and called this type of teaching “emergency online teaching” (EOT).[i] It is probably fair to say that in many cases this has led to a decrease in the quality of teaching.
But there is also an upside to EOT. The pandemic crisis has promoted basically every teacher to deal with online teaching – including those that have tried to avoid this (and to some extent I was certainly one of those). And even though many might return to traditional classroom teaching once the restrictions are lifted, many have also overcome this first hurdle and will start to develop their online teaching. I do not know when and if education will ever go fully online. But I do believe that blended learning will penetrate all levels of education in the future. Blended learning describes a deliberate mixing of face-to-face and online instructional activities.[ii] The additional opportunities that online teaching offers are just undeniable and will further promote the penetration of digital technology into traditional classroom teaching.
The blending of learning environments also requires a transformation of the course responsible person. A teacher has to become a facilitator. Chrsitine Demorest explains the difference:
A facilitator helps people discover on their own through mediating discussions, guiding meetings or proctoring exams and study sessions. On the other hand, a teacher provides direct instruction using presentations and various classroom activities. Teachers may occasionally act as facilitators in the sense that they may encourage peer-to-peer class discussions; however, teachers ultimately explain the course content.[iii]
Of course, this is not an either-of thing. I believe a mixture of both can create the basis for the best learning success. And this transformation is not only in the interest of the students. It can also benefit the teachilitator (ok, ok – that’s a lame portmanteau, but you get my point). Combining elements of a teacher and facilitator can ultimately both save time and create more opportunities for individualized instruction.[iv]
[i] Hodges, C.; Moore, S.; Lockee, B.; Trust, T.; Bond, A. (2020). The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. EDUCAUSE review.
[ii] Boelens, R.; De Wever, B.; Voet, M. (2017). Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 22, 1-18.
[iii] Demorest, C. (2017) Difference Between Facilitators & Teachers.
[iv] Your Teaching Role in a Blended Learning Setting
