subject: The Many Rewards of Facilitating an Online Class [print this page] The Many Rewards of Facilitating an Online Class
As an online instructor, what would you list if you were asked to consider the benefits of being responsible for teaching a class? When you are facilitating an online class it may be easy to first recognize the challenges that are possible, which may include the time commitment required to manage the class and meet your required facilitation duties. Online teaching can also be very rewarding when you consider the transformative nature of classroom facilitation, your ability to influence the process of learning, and the opportunities for professional growth that it provides.
The Transformative Power of Teaching
You hold an ability to transform your students through a responsive approach to classroom facilitation, one that encourages and inspires students to reach for their full potential, especially when you can see students for who they can become, instead of reinforcing who they are now. Through your interactions with students you can instill confidence, teach discipline with a structured classroom, lead through your example, and develop working relationships as a teacher and a mentor. Students know that they will receive some form of feedback for their work and they look for your response and direction. You can create a supportive environment, one that helps students with their developmental needs, by providing them with specific resources. Students also have professional needs and through their participation in the class, along with your guidance, they can develop skill sets that will help prepare them for a career or career advancement. Watching students make progress throughout the class can be very rewarding as it is often a reflection of their response to your facilitation techniques.
Your Ability to Influence Learning
You can establish conditions in the classroom that create a learning environment. Through your classroom participation you can help bring the course materials to life, add your expertise to the discussions, and guide students through focused learning where they are developing critical thinking skills and creating new knowledge. What can make this process of learning rewarding is that you have an ability to acknowledge your students' contributions, help them apply knowledge to the real world, and assist them as they work through ideas and interact with information provided throughout the course.
Opportunities for Professional Growth
As you facilitate online classes over time you begin to learn teaching methods that are effective and methods of building rapport with your students. The online classroom requires you to utilize words in a way that establishes a connection and a meaningful classroom presence. This can be rewarding when you reflect on previous classes and what has worked well, realizing that it is possible to create conditions that result in effective interactions, along with professional development of your students and your own facilitation practice. Professional growth may also result from learning through the experiences of your students and discovering ways of meeting their needs. Many schools also require instructors to seek out professional developmental opportunities such as continuing education courses and workshops, and they encourage instructors to be active in their field.
Facilitating an online class can be challenging; however, you can choose to focus on the demands of your time in the process of being an effective instructor or you can remember the potential rewards and use that as a source of motivation to create and sustain a transformative learning environment. Every class you facilitate provides a new opportunity to connect with students, experience professional growth, and have a direct impact on their academic journey.
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