Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
With the web itself having so many unreliable information sources, generating trust
is critical to the success of this system. Where the textbooks of the past were a known
entity with reliable information, the web contains information that is not edited and in
many cases is simply incorrect. This leads to a more information wary student. One
who seeks the ready accessibility of the Internet resources, but also questions their
true value. In reality, this web based collection of information is what the student
often consults first, but due to their uncertainty in the information, they will often
cross check with multiple sources. Essentially they perform a simple form of peer
review before giving trust to the information obtained.
Developing this level of trust in the teaching staff members “unofficial” content is
one of the key challenges. Participant feedback from the study indicated the fact that
the staff member was open on a personal level, thus enabling students to make the
link between their personal “unofficial” identity and their true real world identity
made them more confident in the truth and personal reliability of the teaching staff
members virtual persona. With confidence transferred to the reliability of the tips and
tricks provided through the short videos of that persona. In simple terms there
appears, based on the studies findings, value in truth in virtual personas and also value
in more personal detail and engagement.
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Online Teaching Presence and Persona
The learning environment populated with students today is a rich and highly
technology based world. For many teaching staff this in itself is challenging. In many
cases students are more comfortable with the technology and communication systems
than the staff themselves [7, 8]. The question of how important, in the modern era, an
online presence is for an effective teacher is challenging. At its core, teaching
involves assisting the student to obtain the knowledge and skills required to
understand and successfully deal with challenges. For the modern teacher this means
being there to assist with personal face-to-face learning, but also being there to assist
with independent learning through online presence, interactive communication and
the delivery of engaging learning resources. For the teacher, this makes their online
presence a critical element of their professional persona. In the world of online study,
a teacher's online presence is often more heavily accessed and utilized than the
interpersonal face-to-face engagements. Managing this virtual professional teaching
presence, in its many forms and including the use of entertainment techniques to
engage and inspire the students, is a skill that has become a valuable skill to all
teachers involved in the fast growing online education environment.
The 24/7 nature of online environments makes it almost impossible for any
member of teaching staff to be available at all times to students. One of the key
techniques pursued in this research was the use of personal entertainment oriented
media as a means to capture key elements of knowledge and present them in an
engaging and personal online form to students.
One of the key issues with online delivery of materials is the sense of detachment
that students feel [9,10]. This research experimented with differing levels of “person”
