The Life and Times of an E-Trainer
By Lesley Darling

Here's how two online trainers go about their jobs training hundreds of learners who they will never meet face-to-face.

We all know e-learning is hot, that it will have a major impact on how people learn, that it will change how companies train their employees. But, we haven't heard much about the effect online training is having on trainers themselves.

Looking at the typical workday of two e-trainers, it's clear that training in the online world is an entirely different animal. Mickey Dodson and Jeff Bankston each have pursued online learning for years and currently conduct online classes (see the e-trainer profiles, below). Here's a look at their experiences.

The class is the thing

Classes begin with a series of postings to a training-site message board. Dodson and Bankston post information about themselves and a general welcome to the class--what learners should expect, how to get the most out of the class, topics, homework, and additional materials. "That's where I set the tone of the class," says Bankston.

Dodson has found that she needs to tell learners up front that she's a woman. "With a first name like Mickey, it's only fair," she says. "I've had students in class for 12 weeks, and at the end they'll write a note saying, 'Mr. Dodson, you're the best teacher!'"

Many times, students send introductory emails back. Bankston notes that he's had as many as 100 messages per day during the opening weeks of a class. More typically, he sees around 40 questions and comments each day. At the end of class, student postings "usually taper down to 10 to 20 questions per day." Students review their assigned course materials each week, then post questions and comments to the training-site message board.

Interestingly, interactions in online courses can sometimes be more in-depth than the face-to-face variety. For one thing, the instructor has more time to reflect on the question and respond. Also, says Dodson, "I give a broader answer so the whole class can benefit."

Bankston also conducts live chats in hosted-site chat rooms, usually twice per course. "Students really like the chats," he says. "It's the next best thing to having an instructor actually work on your network."

Class dynamics

Typically, she says, only 50 to 60 students of that larger number participate actively with comments and questions, and she has teaching assistants to help with the workload.

Making the online classroom "real" is a conscious process, says Dodson. Feedback and interactivity are the keys. In most online classes, communication peaks during the first weeks and decreases as the weeks progress. She fights to counter that phenomenon.

The E-Trainers Mickey Dodson Home: Granada, Nicaragua History: Software developer for 20 years; switched to Web development five years ago. Currently owns classroom- training organization Internet Seminar Service. Online training experience: Has been teaching for SmartPlanet and others since 1998; became full-time online trainer soon after. Teaches topics such as intro to HTML, Webpage design, and Website development. Student base: Individual consumers and corporate employees. Jeff Bankston Home: Atlanta History: In 1982, began training for Digital Equipment Corporation; has also developed online training for General Electric, the U.S. National Security Agency, and PC Magazine. He is vice president of operations and senior network architect for BCI Associates, a small business consultancy. Online training experience: Began training for Element K (formerly ZD Education) in 1990. Teaches networking topics, such as intro to SQL, network design and implementation, NT server administration, networking essentials, and certification courses. Student base: Primarily employees of corporate subscribers to Element K.

"In my classes, activity increases as the class goes on," she says. "That's because I give feedback, my teaching assistants give feedback, and I encourage students to visit one another's pages and comment on them. As the students get involved, they build a classroom community. I've seen them respond to the interactivity, and I see it in their course evaluations."

Dodson also strives for a personal touch and sense of humor to increase the comfort level. "I make a point of remembering active students, and I say hello when they come back for another course. And I try to lighten things up if they get frustrated."

The topics that Bankston teaches "can be dry," he admits. "But when you get a spunky, interactive class, it's a ball. Online, I see more sharing of information among students because there's less competition. Instead of taking notes and keeping it to themselves, some students post them online."

Reading personalities into emails becomes an art form for online instructors.

"You get a sense of students' personalities," says Bankston. "You encounter attitudes ranging from, 'I've been in this business for three years and designed more networks than God,' to 'This is my first class and first network--please help me.' This is typical of people from mixed backgrounds who have used simple networks. A person who's accustomed to one type of network is naturally biased against anything new, but other students often chime in with their unique network experience that helps broaden everyone's knowledge."

What may surprise people is that some of the same class control issues that crop up in live teaching come up in an online course--personality clashes, for example.

"We've occasionally had real flash points," Bankston relates. "Someone on the class message board will say one kind of network server is better, and someone disagrees. Suddenly people start going ballistic!" Fortunately, such interactions are the exception, not the rule. "You have to put on your personnel management hat," he says. "I'll tell them that we can all learn together."

"I don't allow any hotdogging by people who take a class just to show off what they know," says Dodson. "For instance, in my intro to HTML class, I point out that it's an introductory course and that I and the TAs won't comment on any page that doesn't address the assignment."

Both instructors use any conflicts as a catalyst for interaction and learning, while at the same time managing them carefully and coaching students on how to disagree online.

Who's online?

"I see a lot more inexperienced people because online courses are an easy and cost-effective way for them to break into the field," says Bankston. "I have students asking all levels of questions because they're at different experience levels. That can make it tough on the instructor because you sometimes assume a level of knowledge or access to technology that's not always there."

Dodson's experience with her students focuses on another interesting aspect of online learning: "My classes are filled with people from China, New Zealand, and Australia." The classes, she says, "bring the world closer. These people become very close; they begin to help one another and call one another by their first names."

Cultural nuances in such situations are important. "I had a learner from Malaysia," says Dodson, "and he didn't post anything until three weeks into the course when he offered a suggestion to another student's problem. He said he hadn't posted before because he was nervous about his English. I encouraged him--his answer was right on, and his English was perfect. He was posting for the remainder of the class."

Investing the time

Both Dodson and Bankston follow a regular routine. Dodson's day begins around 5 a.m. "I get coffee and go online. I pick up my mail from the sites and from my teaching assistants. The TAs provide student questions that I need to address immediately, or they alert me to sites that I need to look at. Then I sift through the questions and comments and respond to them." Sometimes the learners are still in the classroom, and they're surprised when Dodson's answer pops up.

If any questions require her to do research, she posts a message that she's working on it. "I want my students to know that their questions will be answered within five hours." Dodson goes offline, does any research she needs to, then repeats her visit to the classroom after lunch. In the afternoon, she often designs Webpages that show the solution to student questions; she posts the pages to her own site so everyone can visit and learn from one another's questions. Finally, later in the evening, Dodson visits her classroom again--three times a day is her habit.

Bankston checks messages from his students in the early morning and evening in a procedure much like Dodson's. On average, he spends about two or three hours a day online for new classes, which later tapers down to about an hour per class. He says that he spends about the same amount of time offline preparing for his classes--about three to six hours per Sunday afternoon--as he would prepping for a live class.

Tips For New Online Trainers Because online training is still relatively new, instructors may not know all the ins and outs of the delivery medium. Here are some tips: Be aware of how much time you'll need to spend offline. You still need to prepare for class, and you may need to create extra materials personalized for learners. In addition, you must take time to respond to students in writing, and they often expect in-depth answers to their questions. Promote interaction among learners. Ask open-ended questions, just as you would in a live classroom setting. Send emails to students who aren't posting questions but who are visiting the message boards. Encourage participants to answer one another's questions and respond to comments. This creates an environment where it's okay to make mistakes. Pay attention. Your answers are posted permanently, for all to see! Unlike a one-time live classroom workshop, if you feel your answer was lacking, you can go back and add a more informed response to the message thread. It's about the teaching. Remember, even though online training takes place in a high-tech setting and--at this point, at least--tends to be about technical topics, your stellar teaching skills are the most vital part of your online course.

Bankston also works offline to make his courses more informative. "If I run across information during a normal business day that would help out in the course, I take notes in a journal. At home, I create material that goes up on my Website for the next class session."

Though they'd never recognize one of their students in a face-to-face encounter, Dodson and Bankston still find the life of an online instructor rewarding.

"I love to teach," says Dodson, "and I've always taught during my career. With online courses, I get to work from home. I don't have to go to an office and sit in a cubicle." Dodson also travels a good bit for her "other" life as a seminar leader, and she still keeps up with her classes: "I can teach anywhere--whether I'm traveling or at the beach."

She also finds rewards in the work itself. "I'll have a student in a FrontPage class, for example, who doesn't even know how to turn on a computer! Twelve weeks later, I visit the Webpage that's his final assignment, and I'm awestruck by how good it is. I love that, because it's something I gave that person--the chance to put his vision on the Internet."

"The best part of online teaching is when you solve a special problem for a student," Bankston says. "When you generate discussion that helps students understand and not fear technology, that leads them to professional growth--the sweet spot."

He, too, travels a good deal as a learning consultant. "Online courses give me the flexibility to connect while I'm traveling and still teach. It's the same for my students; they can take a class any time and place they want to."

Published: May 2000