BEST PRACTICES IN ONLINE EDUCATION: Online Instructors, Courses, and administrators

Learning and teaching online imposes certain challenges on both students and teachers. Teachers should be prepared to meet special requirements of teaching online. Teachers play an important role in teaching. Roles of teachers increase with introducing the online learning, contrary to an early assumption perceived with the invention of the Internet. Designing and developing online courses need collaboration of several people with a variety of interests and expertise, including administrators, teachers, designers, and technical specialists. Each course within the curriculum should be well-designed and fit well within the curriculum. The curriculum in turn should reflect the current state of the discipline, enabling the learners to develop appropriate proficiency and mastery within the specific discipline. This paper describes the roles of teachers and administrators in online learning, and discusses the rules of best practices for both.