Abstract
Online instructors adopt various roles and perform various competencies in the design and delivery of online courses. In this study, online instructor roles are categorized into eight types including Subject Matter Expert, Course Designer and Developer, Course Facilitator, Course Manager, Advisor/Mentor, Assessor/Evaluator, Technology Expert, and Lifelong Learner. Through survey-based research with 141 online instructors, this study examines competencies that online instructors perform based on various roles. When rating competencies, overall categorical means for all the roles were rated above 4.00, which showed that they used all these roles. The highest rated items and lowest rated items are discussed in addition to the connection between research and practice in online teaching. Online instructors who participate in training and who collaborate with instructional designers rated the frequency with which they perform the competencies to be higher. This study has implications for online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators who design and deliver online learning and offer professional development for online instructors.
Highlights
Online instructors adopt various roles and perform various competencies in the design and delivery of online courses
This study examined the competencies of online instructors in higher education and whether instructors’ completion of required training or collaboration with instructional designers resulted in increased online learning competencies
The results of our research will be valuable to instructors and researchers in online education, professionals and administrators working with online instructors, and institutions of higher education engaged in professional development for online teaching
Summary
Based on the literature review, this study categorized roles as Subject Matter Expert, Course Designer and Developer, Course Facilitator, Course Manager, Advisor/Mentor, Assessor/Evaluator, Technology Expert, and Lifelong Learner. Identifying appropriate resources representative of the content and designing activities to enhance student engagement and active learning are key to the instructor’s role in online courses. This ensures that the course is enriching for the students and helps them take control of their learning (Caplan & Graham, 2004; Dennis et al, 2004). Are the factors required training and instructional designer collaboration related to increased instructor competencies for online teaching?
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