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Guiding or Hiding? The Role of the Facilitator in Online Teaching and Learning

This article explores how the role taken by the facilitator in the teaching of an online postgraduate unit affects student interaction and learning. An observer and the facilitator of the unit analyse, in the form of a dialogue, the teaching and learning experiences that occurred. A wide range of “evidence” is used as a basis for reflection, including a detailed analysis of the online entries posted to the bulletin boards, printed records of e-mails and phone conversations, student results and student evaluations. It clearly emerges that teaching in an online environment involves far more than simply transferring teaching skills from the classroom. The successful facilitator will need to learn strategies for developing online “antennae”, for humanizing the electronic environment, and new ways to guide students to discuss, critique and reflect together as they engage in the construction of meaning.