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.
As you read this, his five roles make sense. As an educator you are not just someone that stands in front of the class and tells them information that they are to remember. You are someone that is supposed to be there and teach them how to develop skills that they will be able to use throughout their entire life. This is how I see a teacher’s role. With these five roles that Headley describes I can envision more teachers seeing their jobs like he describes them.
Teachers must be constantly aware of what is going on within the classroom and learning environment – space planners. We must make sure that all content is covered but not covered in such a way that the students are unable to glean information from it – pacesetters. We listen to concerns, answer questions, and give encouragement to students when we see trouble – hosts. As the connector we make sure that they can use the information learned in class within their day-to-day lives. That the information is applicable to their life. We provide appropriate feedback in a timely manner and in such as way students can see what they need to do to make improvements or to challenge them more – mirrors.
As one looks at these roles, if teachers will keep all five in mind as they plan a new course or are designing the curriculum that they are using within current courses, there may be a stronger bond that the students will be able to develop with how the course information relates to their life outside of the classroom or how it relates to their community and environment.
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.