Читать книгу Online Learning For Dummies - Susan Manning - Страница 40

The most common model of online learning in formal educational programs is instructor-led or instructor-facilitated. That means an instructor determines the content and pace of the instruction. In a sense, this is really no different from a traditional classroom experience. In a quality online course, you interact frequently with that instructor, either privately via email or publicly in discussion areas, just as you would have open discussions in a traditional classroom or private conversations on the side. We talk more specifically in Chapter 10 about how online discussion works.

Sometimes online teachers are known as facilitators. In contrast to what you may think of as traditional education, with a professor lecturing and learners soaking up the information, a facilitator provides resources for learners to consider and then facilitates their understanding through a series of discussions or activities. Although facilitation happens in traditional classrooms through face-to-face discussions, it takes on a special significance in online education. Typically, instructor-led courses require learners to interact with one another and everyone follows the same schedule, so they’re always aware that others are taking the course with them. We explain more about whom you’re likely to find in your online classroom in Chapter 9.

Not every opportunity to learn is tied to a formal program. If you’re taking a course by way of your local 2-year college, we count that as formal. If you sign up for a 4-week course by way of Udemy (an online self-paced education portal), that’s informal. Nevertheless, in both cases, you’re learning online.

In most cases, instructors are present in the online environment just as they are in a traditional one. However, what they do with their time in the environment might be a little different from what you would expect an instructor to do in a traditional classroom. Instead of lecturing, the instructor might post a series of narrated slides they created. Or, they might draw out additional responses in discussion rather than tell the class the answers.