e-Tutors' Training Profile

1. VELVITT Conference “e-Tutors’ Training Profile” TERESA OLIVEIRAALCINO PASCOALLOURENÇO FRAZÃOFCT-UNL | PORTUGAL TEI of Crete | Heraklion – GREECE | October 11th, 2005

2. THE CONCEPTS • “Online education” vs “e-learning”; • “Tutor” vs “Mentor”. Mentoring perceived as the last stage of a progression that starts with tutoring and is followed by coaching (Hubal and Guinn, 2001) Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

3. THE STUDENTS • Are involved in the teaching-learning process through differentiated educational experiences; • Have good technical skills, such as using computers and gathering info from the Web; • Have economical, cultural and ethnical backgrounds more diversified then before; • Need to learn permanently, in order to pursue their success in a global society driven by high-tech competition. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

4. e-LEARNING COURSES - 1 • Must be the result of extensive knowledge and experiences about fundamental issues such as tutoring/mentoring, training, and learning; • Must provide clear information about the development of specific competencies relevant for learner’s professional and personal growth; • Course materials should be structured in a way that facilitates individual study. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

5. e-LEARNING COURSES - 2 • The evaluation and assessment procedures should be adjusted to the nature and scope of the course; • Without the active support and participation of a “learning community”, there is no online course. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

6. THE TECHNOLOGY • Affects how we interact with colleagues, how we teach and how we face pedagogical and curricular innovations; • Affects the way we deliver instruction; • It’s a challenge to the educational system, to training and students themselves. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

7. e-TUTORS: roles • e-tutor is not only an expert, but also a mentor, facilitator, motivator, counselor, coach, administrator and assessor! He could even be the person for technical support; • The role of the e-tutor is to set-up the “learning community”, to facilitate discussion, to intervene at key moments and to be a co-learner; • Additional role of the e-tutor: to implement pedagogical and communicational processes, in accordance with the specific situation and maturity of each group of learners. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

8. e-TUTORS: competencies • Are of different nature, such as: • Pedagogical; • Technical; • Managerial; • Scientific; • Communicational; • Social. • Can be distinct in accordance to the timeline: “prior to the course”, “during the course” and “after the course”. To details on competencies Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

9. e-TUTORS: training - 1 • Training is the means of excellence assisting individuals in the acquisition of new skills; • Training is fundamental to conciliate different perspectives: • Students’ expectations; • Trainers’ roles; • Entrepreneurial or institutional point of view; • Individual development of students and tutors. • Tutors’ training for online teaching requires the one i - to move beyond traditional pedagogy and ii - to adopt new and easy-to-use practices. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

10. e-TUTORS: training - 2 • Tutors need specific training and institutional support in order to be willing to adopt new teaching paradigms; • Tutors require specific training programs addressing core technical issues; • It is difficult to predict who will perform well in online tutoring, even for teachers who have good records in conventional learning environments. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

11. e-TUTORS: training - 3 • It is unreasonable to expect from well-experienced teachers in face-to-face teaching to suddenly begin doing well by using a VLE; • A small number of teachers have themselves been instructed via online education; • Those tutors need specific training in order to understand how their courses shall be implemented in the new learning environment. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

12. e-TUTORS: communities of practice • Based on multidisciplinary teams, formed by individuals who have different life experiences and are strongly committed to the success of learning; • Tutors have to put aside isolation, individualism and their privacy; • Tutors have to move well beyond simple collaboration activities onto real and authentic “learning communities”, centered on practice. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

13. TRAINING FORUM • Institutions should set-up a training forum mentored by an experienced e-tutor; • A Training forum enables its participants to be engaged in collaborative learning through online discussions; • The Training forum starts by providing a mutual support community, but further proceeds into strategic development of existing trainers’ learning communities; • It facilitates communication among all trainers and trainees. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005

14. CONCLUSIONS • Multidisciplinary teams help tutors and trainers to play new roles and to shift their functions whenever required; • The establishment of multidisciplinary teams through “learning communities of practice” (inside and outside educational institutions) is crucial for decreasing the constraints of e-tutors’ training; • Participation within “communities of practice” is not itself an educational form, much less a pedagogical strategy or a teaching technique. It is an analytical viewpoint of learning, a way of understanding learning. Velvitt Conference | Heraklion (GR) | October 11th, 2005