There are those who think that social media is just a fad. They’re wrong. It is increasingly digging its tendrils into more and more of our daily life activities, including shopping, getting the news, making appointments, and finding jobs. To remain relevant, eduction needs to be there too. But how?

The category of “online education” is somewhat broad. It encompasses everything from a traditionally-structured college course with its lectures delivered online rather than in person, to a gamified language learning app like Duolingo, where you can compete with your friends on Facebook as you learn (so yes, mobile social media). And then there’s everything in between.

These various forms of online education are different by nature from the traditional face-to-face teaching paradigm. In Boettcher and Conrad’s The Online Teaching Survival Guide, five major differences are spelled out. The one that resonated with me the most is that the role of the teacher has shifted from lecturing and instructing “to coaching and mentoring” (p. 7). Rather than one-way knowledge transfer, teachers become facilitators and guides to aid the students in their knowledge acquisition. In my opinion, this key shift becomes the basis for the design of effective online learning programs. For example, as the authors note, students are more active and engaged, working together more on collaborative projects. And it follows that classroom resources are not limited to one book; the virtual world is literally at students’ fingertips.

Here’s another difference. As a student myself, returning to academia after a long (long!) gap, the first thing that struck me about the web-facilitated courses at USF is a little thing called a Learning Management System. In this case, Canvas. This amazing online tool has been a revelation to me, simplifying and organizing — and digitizing — so many academic activities: course information distribution, communication with instructors and other students, assignment turn-in and grading, readings, video lectures, etc., all in one place. And since that place is in The Cloud, I can work from a variety of devices and locations. Even if this is the only online element of a face-to-face course, it’s still a big shift into the digital realm, and I love it. In fact, I am now conducting research to implement a cost-effective LMS at my own company, as a result of my experience at USF.

Reference: Boettcher, J.V., & Conrad R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass.