Technology Competence

Learners expect their faculty to have technology competence. Some faculty feel that this expectation is unfair because they were hired due to their field of expertise not their technology skills (usually). While any of us can (and do!) encounter technology issues that we can't resolve alone, you should make sure that you are competent in your course management system and familiar with any technology you require your learners to use. Teaching online requires you to understand and use various forms of technology.

Not all online courses use a great amount of technology, but it is important enough that we will devote an entire section to it later. In the meantime, we're talking about expectations. When you are stretched beyond the foundational skills that we all need competence in these days, make sure that you can direct students to institutional or web resources such a help center, knowledge base, or how-to guide. Consider compiling a list of resources that may be used by your learners; make the list available as a foundational document in your online course. Here are links to two resources used by the IU School of Nursing:

Be upfront with learners about situations in which you will be able to provide assistance and those in which they will need to consult other resources.

Activity

Make a list of the technology that you feel is foundational in your course—include the CMS, technology that you use to teach in the course, and the technology you expect your learners to master in order to complete the learning objectives of the course; add any other technology-related tools that aren't covered in these three elements. Now address the following points as they relate to your list:

  1. Reflect on your technology competence and comfort level in the areas you listed. Identify available resources that you can use to bring yourself up to what you—and your learners—feel is technology competence.
  2. Jot down a preliminary timetable of when you can realistically accomplish this training.
  3. Develop a plan for accomplishing your timetable task.
  4. Identify the resources that learners can access in order to make up any deficiencies in their tech skills—resources that you can refer them.

In the next section, we're going to talk about academic integrity as it relates to managing expectations.