The Role of the Online Instructor: A Nexus of Skills, Activities, and Values That Support Learning

Abstract

Online instructors draw upon a complex set of skills, activities, and values to meet the needs of students who are separated from them by time and/or space, but united with them through digital technologies. Berge (1995) introduced the idea that the instructor’s job could be represented through four interrelated roles: pedagogical, managerial, social, and technological. Instructors who develop expertise in all four of these dimensions are well-situated for supporting online students, who similarly must navigate these dimensions. This chapter explores each of these roles and their relationship to online learning. Two additional areas of concern for online instructors, the ethical dimension and the networked dimension, are also discussed.