21st Century Pedagogy

In the traditional classroom, a teacher acts as the expert in the subject who imparts his wisdom upon his students.  The instructor is in control of his classroom and delivers information to the students, whether that be as a lecture, collective group work, or providing textbook reading to the students.  Of course, not all teachers teach in the traditional way.   Most teachers incorporate a variety of teaching strategies into their brick-and-mortar classrooms.  In online courses, these alternative teaching strategies are especially important.  There is so much information available to students in online classes via the Internet and databases, that the teacher can no longer act as the expert, but as a moderator or mentor in the "classroom." As the University of Illinois Online Network explains, "As faculty are beginning to teach online,  learning is becoming more collaborative, contextual and active. Educators must first design their curriculum, goals and objectives and then consider how the online environment can best serve the instructional objectives and activities of that curriculum.This requires changes in pedagogy, with instructors taking the role of facilitators of information while guiding students toward solutions. In order for online learning to be successful, teachers as well as learners must take on new roles in the teaching-learning relationship, and faculty must be willing to release control of learning to the students." 
 
In this section of the Online Learning Site, you will find the following information: