Lesson 9 - Quality Teaching in a Digital Age

First a definition, since this is a topic that is rarely directly discussed in either face-to-face or online teaching, despite structure being one of the main factors that influences learner success. Three dictionary definitions of structure are as follows:

1. Something made up of a number of parts that are held or put together in a particular way.
2. The way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole
3. The interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity

Teaching structure would include two critical and related elements:

• The choice, breakdown and sequencing of the curriculum (content)
• The deliberate organization of student activities by teacher or instructor (skills development; and assessment)

This means that in a strong teaching structure, students know exactly what they need to learn, what they are supposed to do to learn this, and when and where they are supposed to do it. In a loose structure, student activity is more open and less controlled by the teacher (although a student may independently decide to impose his or her own ‘strong’ structure on their learning). The choice of teaching structure of course has implications for the work of teachers and instructors as well as students.

In terms of the definition, ‘strong’ teaching structure is not inherently better than a ‘loose’ structure, nor inherently associated with either face-to-face or online teaching. The choice (as so often in teaching) will depend on the specific circumstances. However, choosing the optimum or most appropriate teaching structure is critical for quality teaching and learning, and while the optimum structures for online teaching share many common features with face-to-face teaching, in other ways they differ considerably.

The three main determinants of teaching structure are:

(a) the organizational requirements of the institution

(b) the preferred philosophy of teaching of the instructor

(c) the instructor’s perception of the needs of the students