What is the role of the teacher in online seminary?
The time commitment for an online seminary teacher is
similar to a daily seminary teacher.
For a class of 10 to 15 students, a teacher can expect
to spend about two hours a day, both online and preparing
to teach the weekly class.
While this does require a significant effort on the part
of these teachers, it cannot be understated the impact the
teacher can have with online students when they actively
participate each day in their online seminary class.
Online teachers log in daily to their online seminary class
to study the lesson materials along with their students,
review their work, participate in class discussions, and
respond to questions.
They also create online class discussions, change the online
course bulletin board, and other activities that will
encourage their students to ask questions, further their
thinking, and create meaningful interaction between
everyone in the class.
Teachers also track daily attendance, completion of
lessons, and open and close the availability of lessons to
help each student have a daily seminary experience.
An important part of this process is to provide praise
and encouragement for all students, not just those who
fall behind.
This can be done on the online bulletin boards and forums,
individually through email, or by a personal call to the
students or their parents, if needed.
The online teacher's role is not to create the lessons, but
to help students engage in the scriptures and their online
activities.
An online teacher can see when and if a student has completed
the online activities.
If needed, the lessons can be modified to meet the students'
and class needs.
In addition to their online activities, teachers also
prepare for and teach the weekly class using their
scriptures and the seminary materials.