Building Community and Sharing Knowledge: Team Teaching an Online Class
Abstract: Advances in computer technology are changing the face of education. With the growth of online education, each year additional teachers are using some form of media allowing them to communicate with and present content to members of their classes. In distance learning, there is a physical separation of teacher and learner, therefore online instructors use instructional technology to instruct students in a medium that requires different skills than in a face-to-face classroom. This research employed narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) to investigate the knowledge generated by four instructors as they team taught an undergraduate online class. The four co-instructors combined their ideas to answer two questions: What are issues an online instructor might face? How can four individuals form a knowledge community to share experience and gain professional knowledge? Issues discussed are teaching presence, engaging students, and mentoring.