E-training e-tutors

Chris Baker
The Open University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR, China


The increasing use of the Web in higher education and the proliferation of online distance education courses bring with them inevitable changes in the role of distance education tutors. Whereas once they supported their students primarily by telephone and correspondence or in occasional face-to-face tutorial sessions, the new communication tools --email, discussion boards, web-conferencing and chat -­ afford more opportunities for effective tutoring, but also necessitate the acquisition of a repertoire of new social, technical and professional skills. How are 'e-tutors' to acquire such skills?

A growing body of literature on e-learning provides guidelines and models for training e-tutors, but such models may have to be modified or adapted to fit the needs of a specific institution, particularly if tutors are used to delivering traditional distance learning models, or face-to-face instruction.

This paper examines some issues related to the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of e-training programs for e-tutors. In particular, the paper considers how e-trainers might best develop e-tutors' knowledge of the processes of online learning and teaching, and foster e-tutors' practical online tutoring skills. The paper focuses on practical strategies for developing e-tutors' skills in managing and moderating online conferences.