A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online Environment

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• driven by the demand for quality online
  education
• Dr. William O. (Bill) Phillips

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• The online teaching persona defined
• the professional self put forth when you deal
  with (teach) students, personal style, in class
  presence (Carroll, 2002),
• a mask that one speaks through, teach out of who
  you are (Parini, 2005),
• should match your critical beliefs (Showalter,
  2003),
• choose the persona that motivates students to
  learn (Lang, 2007)
• the cumulative roles of the online teaching
  faculty, cognitive, affective and managerial
  roles become ones online teaching persona, and
• the public teaching personality, teaching style
  (Coppola, Hiltz Rotter, 2002).

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• Significance
• We teach who we are. (Palmer, 1998) Who is this
  person that teaches?
• Caring, compassionate, swift trust
• Spend long hours online, developing, mentors
• Authoritative, articulate, humorous
• Flexible, creative, organized, pace/routine
• Interaction, feedback, redundancy
• High expectations, seeking student success
• Facilitative teacher Rogers (1983)
• 7 principles Chickering Gamson (1987),
  Chickering Ehrmann (1996).

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Your online teaching persona

• Who are you online?
• What is your online teaching persona?
• How do you communicate your online teaching
  persona? Technology?
• Do you and your students agree to your answers to
  these questions?

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Competencies for Online Teaching Success (COTS)

• Our friend Larry Ragan Penn State
• http//www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p1013568217
  7CBD2D
• Flip videos of faculty competencies for
  successful online teaching
• Google Youtube and faculty development

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Try these examples

• Faculty / Student relationship
• Heather Stewart, Director of ITS, New York
  University, Competencies for Online Teaching
  Success
• No (2) Online Classes are the Same
• Marie Puzziferro, Dean of Student Success,
  Colorado State University Global
• Social Presence
• Alexandra Pickett, Associate Director, SUNY
  Learning Network
• Identify Your Pedagogical Philosophy
• Richard Millwood and Mark Brown, Massey
  University, New Zealand

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..and these

• Superb Communication Skills
• Nicole Martinez, Director of Curriculum
  Instruction Design, SUNY, Empire State College
• Be Comfortable in Your Teaching Environment
• Ross Mackenzie, Strategic Development Manager,
  The Open University
• Be Open and Honest
• Bobbie Dunham-Carter, Organizational Learning
  Specialist, Nova Scotia Community College

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.wait.there are more!

• Assume Confidence
• Bob Crum, Accounting Instructor, Penn State
  University
• Engage with the Learners
• Larry Ragan, Director of Faculty Development,
  Penn State World Campus
• Just Do It!
• Susan Simon, Instructional Designer, Dartmouth
  College
• Building a Community
• John Campbell, Associate Vice President,
  Information Technology, Purdue University

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.and two more.

• Agility Flexibility
• Cole Camplese, Director, Educational Technology
  Services, Penn State University
• The Curse of Knowledge
• Ken Pasch Instructor, Penn State University

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Web 2.0 Technologies

• New technologies enable the delivery of your
  persona to your students
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Skype
• Youtube
• Blogs and wikis

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Webcourses Tools

• Discussions
• Video Introduction
• Welcome letter
• Instructor Introduction (Swift trust)
• Chat Office hours, discussions
• Module Videos
• Formative Evaluations

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Examples!

• Distance Learning - It's Real Education!
  Professor Schmidt, Iowa State University
• What is a web class when I teach it? Professor
  Schmidt, Iowa State U.
• UCF Intro Video Kate Giglio, English

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• Think about
• your teaching persona, in your online (or f2f)
  classroom,
• the persona exhibited by your favorite
  professors, f2f and online,
• the generations entering college and how they
  will see their online professors,
• the characteristics of the successful online
  professor

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• Barriers
• Large classes
• Lack of face-to-face interaction, humor
• Technology
• Time
• Self-censorship

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• The effective and articulate online persona is
  critical for the successful online professor
• What is your online persona?
• Discussion

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Lets communicate and collaborate -

• Dr. William O. (Bill) Phillips
• University of Central Florida
• CDWS LR-107
• Orlando, FL 32816-2810
• bphillip_at_mail.ucf.edu

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• A detailed study of four successful online
  professors in their online classes
• Revealing - online persona, characteristics
• Insightful - best practices, barriers
• Captivating - behind the scenes moments
• Meaningful caring professors, mentors
• Rewarding contributing to the literature

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A Study Of Instructor Persona In The Online
Environment

• Past, Present, and Future
• BA, 1974, USF, Mass Communication
• MA, 1999, UCF, Instructional Design
• EdD, diverse, challenging, rewarding
• Course work, research, camaraderie
• Dissertation Two years of vision, reward
• Teaching energetic faculty high touch
• Research and rewards in the future