Uncharted territory

Online tutoring and mentoring
 

by Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma

With an ever increasing demand for higher education and limited capacities in traditional universities, the use of alternative methods of learning has become a necessity. To solve this problem distance education has been widely used, particularly in the developing world. Distance education does not only address this issue but also provides opportunities to learners who are unable to attend traditional universities due to various reasons. Distance education has undergone several generations of development in keeping with the changes in technology and it is now using the Internet and World Wide Web for learning, known as online learning.

However, online learning is not limited to distance learning. Traditional universities too use online learning to deliver courses. This provides blended learning environments for the learners - a combination of both face-to-face and online delivery of instructions. Online learning helps the learner to be in charge of their learning process through easy access to information, gives ability to conveniently communicate with peers and tutors, and also provides flexibility to decide when and where to study.

Online learning

Following is a simple and sufficiently descriptive definition of online learning: "Online learning is learning or training conducted via a computer network,..g., using the Internet and the World Wide Web, a local area network. It is important to identify the situations that are suitable for online learning. What are the criteria to be used in determining the suitability of a course for online delivery? There are five criteria that could be used in the selection of courses for online delivery. They are: i) Ways of communication, ii) Extent of access, iii) Frequency of update, iv) Degree of interaction, and v) Readability of material.

Ways of communication: Courses which require multi-way communication between learners, and learners and tutors through emails and discussion forums, etc., are suited for online delivery.

Extent of access: Ideally, the content that is accessed by a large number of learners deserves to be online.

Frequency of update: The content that is placed online needs to be updated regularly to keep the interest of the learners to visit the website frequently.

Degree of interaction: The courses that require a high degree of interaction between the learner and the content such as attempting questions with interactive feedbacks are suited for online delivery.

Readability of material: Making the learners to read long passages on computer screens is not effective. Material that is delivered online should be in small chunks without too many complicated sketches, drawings, etc.

Let us now review what it takes to be an online tutor and mentor.

Tutoring and mentoring

Tutoring and mentoring are important in both face-to-face and online environments. However, the role of the tutors and mentors are more vital in online learning environments.

This is mainly because they are often the only resource persons whom the learners can turn to for help whereas in face-to-face environments there are many others whom learners can seek help from. It is a common observation in distance learning that the learners easily tend to feel isolated from the rest of the learners due to lack of regular face-to-face contact with peers and teachers and it is therefore a primary role of the tutor of distance learning to keep constant contact with learners and also to keep them motivated to ensure successful completion of their studies.

There are many potential roles for the tutor but here are three of the most important ones.

The tutor as a subject expert: one of the roles for the tutor is to supplement self-study materials, clarifying misunderstandings and pointing learners to sources of related information.

The tutor as coach: the second main role is to act as a coach, mentor or counsellor. The coach is responsible for helping the learners to achieve their learning goals by challenging, encouraging and providing constructive feedback.

The tutor as assessor: in many cases the tutor also has to act as an assessor, checking to ensure that the learners have achieved the learning objectives.

Let us briefly look at each of these roles and associated behaviours. The tutor as subject expert - the tutor is usually asked to function as a subject expert, acting as the primary source of content or supplementing and acting as a backup to content that is presented.

This role is similar to that of the traditional teacher. Following are the principal behaviours that are expected of the subject experts:

Presenting: Usually in online learning, the majority of content is presented in the form of self-study materials. The subject experts may be involved in preparing these materials and or presenting any audio/video media components live or on demand.

Demonstrating: Depending on the type of learning outcome expected, the tutor may have to demonstrate certain parts of the content as a built-in component of the self-study material or a separate event.

Referring: The tutor should refer learners to various contents within the lesson material or other external resources such as books and websites when questions are asked by them.

Contributing: The subject experts play a significant role in contributing to knowledge bases, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), discussion forums and other reference tools for learners.

The tutor as assessor

With some online courses, assessment is an integral part of the self-study materials and no human intervention is necessary. In other cases, the tutor may be required to conduct an assessment of the learner's knowledge and skills.

The principal behaviours expected from the online assessor include: i) Monitoring the learner's behaviour throughout the course, ii) Questioning the learner, in chat sessions or using e-mail, iii) Judging the learner-submissions, iv) Controlling to ensure that the assessment is conducted fairly. The online tutors are expected to establish and maintain good relationships with the learners to ensure successful learning outcomes.

Building relationships

The tutors are expected to get to know the learners for whom they are responsible to maintain a cordial relationship. These include basic personal data, educational background, prior knowledge, learner constraints, computer literacy, etc.

Working with online tools

Regardless of the tutors' exact role, they will operate in an environment that has its own unique advantages and constraints. The most common online tools are: emails, discussion groups, and text chats. It is very important to initially agree on some ground rules for using these online tools. For example, how soon the tutor will respond to a query by a learner? e.g. within 24 hrs.

Becoming an online tutor

How would one get to become an online tutor? Here are some possibilities:

* You are performing a similar role in an alternative form of distance learning.

* You are a classroom teacher or instructor and willing to operate in a new capacity in online learning.

* You are a subject expert interested in providing online help.

Whatever the situation, the tutor will be entering a profession for which no clear-cut rules have yet been established. The tutor is unlikely to have all the knowledge and skills necessary to act as subject expert, coach, assessor and user of online tools. So, there will be a lot to learn and discover in this uncharted territory!