Hiring an online instructor or a facilitator is one of the most significant decisions you may make for your newly launched course. Be wary of face-to-face instructors eager to teach your online courses. Online teaching is not the same as face-to-face instruction. It requires certain personality traits that help an individual succeed in the online medium.
Online instruction naturally demands more online contact hours than face-to-face instruction. Candidates should also be able to express themselves better in writing. They should be prepared to provide on-going support beyond the office-hours indicated in their job description.
The online learner quickly feels isolated if the facilitator is not able to establish an effective rapport (Lammers & Gillapsy, 2013). Online learning is all about autonomy and independence in learning. An effective instructor should be able to encourage self-directed learning habits and imbibe the value of life-long learning in their learners (Reushle & Mitchell, 2009). When hiring an online instructor, the interviewer should look for certain distinct qualities as outlined in the interview questions below.
Describe in detail your online teaching philosophy.
An ideal candidate would stress the importance of getting to know the learner on an individual basis. This is possible through short surveys in which the facilitator can uncover personal goals, expectations and weaknesses of learners. On a collective basis, the facilitator can refer to a study conducted by Mezirow (1991) in which he described online learning as a dilemma leading to disorientation and then to learning.
Preparing online learners for this process should be your candidate’s priority. In one-on-one communication with his/her learners, the disorientation they would experience upon receiving complex or challenging tasks should be mentioned. If learners are encouraged to tap into their past experiences and connect with current knowledge, they would experience learning at an advanced level.
This transformative learning experience will enable learners to apply what they’ve learned to their work context with relative ease. It’s all about effectively guiding them through their cognitive processes with patience and empathy.
How will you add to our institute’s learning philosophy?
This question checks for institute related knowledge the candidate may have researched in order to prepare for the interview. The candidate should talk about the current mission of the institute and how they can further this. Successful online facilitators will talk about creative and innovative solutions to improve online teaching and learning strategies. They should give the impression that their personal teaching philosophies are similar to those of the institute.
Tell us your strengths and areas that could need further development.
A favorable candidate can answer this question along these lines: If there is one motivating factor in online learning it is the degree of its relevance to the learner’s personal and professional life. An instructor’s main strength lies in connecting closely with learners. He or she should be able to label the learners’ unique needs and try to create “authentic tasks” for them.
Research into their immediate work setting, performance context and work requirements to create scenarios they can relate with is a great strategy. While it is not possible to create authentic tasks for each learner, a general idea of the group’s expectations will lead to projects and assignments that generate application of skills directly to their work contexts.
An area in an instructor’s teaching that needs further improvement may be organizing assignment ideas according to the course. They may also need more time to develop evaluation rubrics for their authentic assignment ideas.
Tell us about the educational technology utilization experience in your classroom.
An instructor should use the features of a learning management system to create online learning communities. This is challenging in the beginning, as learners are reluctant to open up to each other. It’s good to use several ice-breaker assignment techniques that encourage learners to get to know each other and be able to relate to their life experiences.
How would you motivate average learners to perform better?
Average learners are potential over-achievers. They need to be able to appreciate their efforts in the form of visual cues. Average learners need a “bird’s eye” view of their past accomplishments and a clear roadmap of their future milestones. An eLearning portfolio is an interactive and engaging method of consolidating all efforts of these learners to enable them to appreciate their achievements so far.
Average learners in the online learning environment also need more attention than others. Understanding their current setbacks and providing them with meaningful feedback should help them perform at an advanced level. Also highlighting the value of the course in their personal life will help them stay motivated.
The best way to motivate all learners is to require them to write a reflections statement in which they demonstrate their attitude and behavior before joining the course and the changes they experienced towards the conclusion of the course.
Tell us about your current research interests and future professional development plans.
Motivated online facilitators are always looking for ways to improve their teaching and subject matter. Their response to this interview question could contain elements like the following: They are currently working on their graduate/doctorate degree, constantly looking for courses (especially online courses) that teach how to use educational technology and multimedia building tools. They write for blogs and educational technology columns. They are also an active supporter of several online learning communities. They have several publications that talk about their online environment related research.
Hiring an online facilitator can be a bit tricky. These interview questions and their responses should help you narrow down your prospects for your new eLearning course.
References
Conrad, R. & Donaldson, J. (2012) Continuing to Engage the Online Learner.
Lammers, W. J., & Gillaspy Jr., J. A. (2013). Brief Measure of Student-Instructor Rapport Predicts Student Success in Online Courses. International Journal For The Scholarship Of Teaching & Learning, 7(2), 1-13.
Reushle, S., & Mitchell, M. (2009). Sharing the Journey of Facilitator and Learner: Online Pedagogy in Practice. Journal Of Learning Design, 3(1), 11-20.
