Nature vs Nurture?

Did the results of your TPI fit your image of yourself as a teacher? Do you think the TPI results are different for the same person teaching online and face-to-face?

The results of the TPI test were interesting for me, because I teach adult learners. Sometimes my instruction is done face to face, and sometimes it is via distance learning (webinars, go to meetings, videos, etc.)

I wonder if it is completely different for me. I am always aware that I am teaching clients who have paid for me to teach them, for my training and for the products we offer. My TPI numbers were all in the low 30s and some in the low 40s - by far "nurturing" was my highest score. Again, I wonder if that is because my primary goal is to make them happy - which means I've made them learn and understand - which means they will continue to be clients (and I will continue to have a job :)) Although it is not exactly the same, the question arose during discussions about only paying a teacher when a course is completed. My situation could be interpreted in the same way (although it is different.) If my clients are not happy, my company can lose big business and I could potentially lose my job. I am not sure whether regular teachers (in a non-corporate setting) feel the same way? I would be curious to know. "Customer comes first."

When I taught for the sake of only teaching, in non-profit/volunteer situations, it was for adults as well. I found that I tailored my instruction to their individual desires and goals, because I wanted them to come back and complete the course/learn what I was teaching. I knew it would give them better job skills and it would be worth it, but these particular adults were tough to keep interested. If it was not easy enough, they felt futile - if it was not tough enough, they wouldn't learn what they needed to learn. I suppose this is also how most teachers feel. In that case I would say I was more nurturing as well, but it was because of the student's nature - these people had seen very tough times and needed to feel good about themselves and what they could accomplish/learn.

I can't see how it would be any different in either situation for online teachers of any type. I wonder what others will notice.

The Future of Online Courses and Instruction

What did you learn about the design of online courses this week that will affect how you think about this form of instruction in the future?


I think online instruction is still a nascent industry/method of instruction. Every aspect is new and deserving of research and investment - optimum pedagogy; the proper use of multi-media and digital tools; integration of social learning, interaction and sharing; professional development (or initial teacher development) of instructors who can take full advantage of the tools available and can still provide the personalization promised by online schooling, the acceptance of virtual schooling as a viable and credible option to face to face schooling, and more. There are multi-cultural opportunities, virtual language immersion, and a number of opportunities yet to come.

I believe there will be many companies that crop up as a result of the needs and pivots that online schooling takes. Private, individualized, personal tutors? Elluminate or Adobe Connect classes where students see and interact with each other? Handheld integration or "always on" learning? The list goes on. I doubt very much that online schooling will look like this in a few years, but this is a start!

How has your thinking about online schools and online schooling changed since the first week?

This week has been somewhat of an epiphany, because I did not realize how many "moving parts" were involved in an online school. I'm sure this is partially because we are still in the early adopter stage, both on the part of the schools and the potential students/parents. In most early adopter situations, a product is more easily defined thus the "sale" of the concept becomes easier to those who understand and want to be first. In this case, the schools are experimenting with various methods of many components. Teachers, methods of teaching, platforms, teacher/student interaction, curriculum, instructional design - in fact it would be really interesting to look back at the same schools in five years and see how they have changed and gelled.

When it comes to potential students, we are still not sure of the audience. There are the obvious candidates - the home schoolers. But there are others - the travelers, the athletes, etc. and possibly markets they haven't defined yet. I was aware that we were in the early stages of the adoption curve, but wasn't aware of how they were tackling it at the beginning. I suppose like many other businesses, using the equivalent of outside contractors (content providers or part time instructors) is a viable option without the long term obligation if the business pivots course.

It is interesting how an entirely new type of industry has evolved from these issues - the suppliers, content providers (including AP and credit recovery facilitators,) marketers, and administrators of a new type of program.

If I were Choosing an Online School for my Child....

I'd make sure courses had instructors experienced w/ online ed & that it wasn't an experimental feature. Direct & personalized instruction would be a deciding factor