Resumen de Synchronous Video Chat Sessions in a TESOL Online Graduate Course: Instructor Roles and Best Practices
Esther Smidt, Ashley McAndrew, Brian McDyre
This qualitative case study investigates instructor roles and best practices in the synchronous video chat sessions of an online graduate course, Teaching English Language Learners PreK-12, at a midsized, mid-Atlantic state university. Participants consist of two first-time online graduate facilitators and the instructor of record. The principal research questions are: What were the experiences of the first-time online facilitators? What hindered learning in the synchronous video chat sessions? What are the suggested best practices? Data sources consisted of blog entry reflections and comments. Data were coded using the qualitative research software, NVivo 10. Discussion centered on first-time online facilitators’ comfort with their roles and styles of facilitation, the obstacles of initial uncertainty and bandwidth problems, and pedagogical and technological best practices. Results suggested that there needed to be an unlearning and relearning of social norms, and that there existed a continuum of hands-on to hands-off facilitation.
