Five Roles I Play in Online Courses - Summary

Five Roles I Play in Online Courses

Headley discussed the different roles that he believes he has as an instructor in an online course. He sees himself as more than just a teacher or instructor. He sees his job having several different facets to it.

The five roles that he plays are space planner, pacesetter, host, connector and mirror. He does not believe that they roles have to be in that order or that there is necessarily a direct connection between each one, but that each one is important to the success of his courses.

As a space planner, he is planning on how the course will function and what activities will be occurring as to have a positive learning experience for his students. As the pacesetter, he notes one must realize that it is not a traditional face-to-face course and you must give the proper amount of time for reflection and for discussions to develop and grow. In his host role he tries to be a subtle support system. He helps when needed and gives little notes and messages to students in order to help and give them a boost when he believes it is needed. The connector he makes sure that the communication lines are available to the students whether it is communication to him or other students. He explains to the students all of the modes of communication that are available within his courses at the beginning of the course. Finally, as the mirror he gives feedback to the students. He makes sure it is timely and appropriate and encourages students so that they will not become frustrated or give up.

Overall, Headley believes that his role is more than just someone that relays knowledge to his students. He sees himself as a person that points them down a path and then helps them learn along the way down the path while keeping them on it at the same time.

Headley, S. (2005). Five roles I play in online course. Innovate 2 (1). Retrieved October 01, 2008 from http://www.innovateonlin.info/index.php?view=article&id=78.