Lessons from the Virtual Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER TWO

THE ART OF ONLINE TEACHING

Teaching in the virtual classroom requires that we move beyond what have been considered traditional models of pedagogy, predominantly involving lecture, into new, more facilitative practices. Teaching online involves much more than simply taking tried-and-true models of pedagogy and transferring them to a different medium. Facilitation online requires practices that promote collaboration and discussion among learners and encourages them to work together to explore the content of the course. Unlike in the face-to-face classroom, attention in online education needs to be paid to developing a sense of community in the group of participants in order for collaboration to occur and the learning process to be ...