TEACHERS MANAGERS / MENTORS: ROLE MODELS IN A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

TEACHERS MANAGERS / MENTORS: ROLE MODELS IN A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM: In my earlier posts the discussions centred on teachers as managers or as mentors. Most of my commentators strongly support the fact that t...

ROLE MODELS IN A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

In my earlier posts the discussions centred on teachers as managers or as mentors. Most of my commentators strongly support the fact that teachers as managers in the 21st century cannot be downplayed. The teachers will continue to do most of the normal things they do but the mentorship role is where some people raised concerns and I wish to provide some answers in this post.

 As a teacher I have received several good wishes from my students admiring me from afar. The reasons they give are simple that they like me for what I do and how I do some of the things I do. One may argue that these are complements we receive all the time but as a teacher it has so many implications for the profession. For example, it helps to improve the students academic work, there is respect among teacher and students and discipline is greatly ensured in the class or in the school.
In this picture here is a student of mine who got close to me and requested to join me in taking this photograph. In a virtual classroom can the students have access to teachers in this same manner? Both teacher and student cannot meet in physical space like the picture here but is there a way the teacher can touch and impart the life of a student?
This is possible. Let us not forget that in the virtual classroom the teacher continues to do most of the normal activities like teaching, setting examination questions, marking , recording, giving comments etc. And with technology these activities become even more interesting to both teacher and students. As the they manage the virtual classrooms they also take the lead in serving as mentors and role models.
My own experience as a student on the Distance Education and E-learning programme at the University of Ghana gives me about three strong lecturers as my role models. This is not because we sometimes meet face-to face but because of how they handled their courses and manipulated the Sakai learning management platform to get to the students. They gave timely information to students, prompt releases of grades and comments and prompt feedback on students concerns are some of the things which endeared them to me.

Secondly on MOOCs one of my lecturers on the course - Leading Ambitious Teaching and Learning was Lizz Kolb. The MOOC is an entirely online programme or virtual classroom. I admired her for the course she teach, how she handles and with a video I was able to know who I was dealing with.
The teacher's role as a mentor and a role model in a virtual classroom is not in doubt at all. the way teachers go about teaching their courses, how the teach these course, the way they handle assignments and prompt responses to students can all endear them to their students. With the use of technology these days, synchronously the students and teachers can see each other through video conferencing, chart rooms or work together on Google Docs.