Hello all,

I very much enjoyed the title to this piece of writing- it was very eye catching!  Teacher identity is an interesting area to look at, because we assume that teachers who are able to share their identity and share a "piece of themselves" with their students (for lack of better wording) are essentially better teachers.  Teaching in the online format does have one advantage of social media, where instructors are able to filter and edit only what they wish students to see.  While many might argue for or against this, I would be curious to see what differences we see in teachers whose virtual identity most closely matches their face-to-face personality compared to those with greater discrepancies. 

I find it very interesting that the essay focuses on teacher identity! I think this is a great concern to address. In the traditional setting, there is a clear view and distinction of who is the teacher. However, in the online environment students tend to get brave because they can send written communications and talk on the phone as opposed to being face-to-face. I think that students act and communicate differently in the discussion forums then they would if we were having an actual in-person discussion. This is a challenge in the online classroom, but nothing that cannot be amended by using CATs and maintaining an effective tone in the online classroom. I think it is more difficult for online instructors to develop a sense of authority in the online environment due to the non-personal barriers. Because online students cannot see their instructors, it is almost like the instructor is not a "real person" per say. I am an advocate for online education, but let's face it: there are significant differences in the two modalities.

While the title of the article focuses on teacher identity, a major focus of the paper is the transition experience of traditional instructors to an online teaching environment. This shift to the use of technology is very powerful in andof itself and can cause experienced teachers to doubt their teaching self-efficacy. Out of these reflections emerge several very important themes for the continuous professional development of educators: openness to the changing modalities of teaching is critical; teachers should be adequately trained and mentored to deliver instruction online; teachers can benefit from professional collaborations that encourage reflections on daily practice.

The authors; Holly Johnson, Suzanne Ehrlich, Susan Watts Taffe and Cheri Williams; are commended for their timely and important scholarly work entitled "Who Am I Here?" Disrupted Identities and Gentle Shifts When Teaching in Cyberspace. Their year-long self-study significantly contributes to the rapidly growing field of online teaching where, as the authors depict, there is an absence of research on teacher identity at the higher education level.

In their scholarly work, the authors portray the transition from a traditional college classroom to a virtual presence in teaching and learning. This transition is not at times an easy one as the authors insightfully characterize. With its many challenges of establishing an effective "identity" by a professor, the author's provide guidance to novice and seasoned online professors alike and online institutions. As the authors exemplify, the establishing of an online identify by professors is challenging and may be problematic.

The moving from traditional "on-ground" teaching to a virtual environment does require new "literacies and new task demands" as the authors aptly demonstrate. The new literacies and demands are personified by the analysis of Maggie, Priscilla, Loreen, and Anna. The portrayals of the subjects are made by the authors with precision and meticulous care. The authors are commended for approximately 40 pages of reflective data four peer evaluations, and an overabundance of informal notes from their discussions. From the data the continuum revealed the characteristics of Maggie, Priscilla, Loreen, and Anna to include, as stated by the authors, Doubting Perfectionist, Critical Facilitator, Accessible Pragmatist, and Absent Framer. The identities made crystal clear provide the opportunity for readers of the study to reflect and analyze one's own preferences, strengths, and abilities.

In the final analysis, the authors concluded that the "stances toward technology and online teaching and learning were directly connected to the identities as teachers." The adequacies of individuals moving to online instruction need to be thoughtfully reflected. The questions and concerns revealed in the study need to be contemplated by individuals who are aspiring to teach online as well as institutions that are considering to provide online programs. In retrospect, the authors asserted that the "challenges to and changes in professor identities is at the heart of literacy learning and instruction." Outstanding work!!

I very much enjoyed reading this timely and important paper.  I think consideration of the transition from face-2-face to online teaching is important for faculty, program directors and most all educators at this point in history.  These authors have beautifully articulated some of the challenges involved in the transition process.  They have addressed the fears of teacher presence and identity that many new online instructors face.  They have provided insights to strategies, through qualitative research, for improved teacher performance.  Importantly, the authors are clear that lifelong learning is imperative for those of us who have chosen to engage in teaching others.  This paper challenges those who are moving to online teaching environments to reflect upon the motivations, and all other factors related to identity, that have influenced teaching at this point in history.  This paper is representative of excellent scholarship and collegiality.  Thank you.

Hi Holly, Suzanne, Susan, and Cheri!

Your case study provides an important glimpse into the necessary shift that occurs when transferring teaching practice to an online modality.  Although teaching activities are important aspects of both face-to-face and online modalities, social presence may hold one of the keys to the identify shift you explored.  As Gunawardena and Zittle (2007) suggested, presenting yourself as real people online is both important to online student satisfaction and challenging for the online instructor.  Computer mediated instruction presents many unforeseen challenges.  The lack of immediacy combined with getting acclimated to new technology can present barriers to presenting oneself as real people online.  This is part of the identity shift you explored.

This study presents an excellent contribution to the rising challenge presented by increases in online course offerings.  As online education continues to grow, work like yours will be needed to further understand how both veteran and novice teachers make the shift to teaching online.

Great work!

Dr. Greenberger

Reference
Gunawardena, C., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment. The American Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 8-26.

This paper was both enjoyable and relevant and I want to thank you for sharing it. I had not really analyzed my identity as a teacher, but definitely took a look at that after reading this. I found I could relate to Priscilla, Loreen, Anna, and Maggie all in some way. One conclusion I found interesting was that "stances toward technology and online teaching and learning were directly connected to our identities as teachers." This would be cause for anyone considering teaching online to carefully consider his or her attitude toward technology and online education before making a committment. As you stated, not everyone is suited to online teaching so we should all know where our strengths lie and focus on them for the benefit of both ground and online students. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and reflections with us - it was very beneficial.

What an interesting and thoughtful paper. I have often thought about how traditional teachers dealt with the transition to online. I have known for awhile that there was hesitancy going into online teaching. Teachers that fought against it for years, and those that felt the value of online instruction was not equal to face to face. This paper gave indepth thoughts on this from personal views.

Personally, online teaching has been my favorite since beginning in higher education eight years ago. I tried the face to face teaching and just couldn't make it work. Online teaching allowed me time to consider each students posts, time to respond to personal posts with compassion, a peaceful non-stressful place to work so that my confidence with the students was high, and a career that gave me a choice in the timing and place of my work. I have loved working online, have a wonderful time relating and caring for students, and have no desire whatsoever to go back into the classroom.

It is interesting how we all face this form of education so differently. It was enjoyable to hear others stories and see how they handled the transition. Glad that others are coming on board with online instruction and making it more accessible for students that have the needs this form of education answers.

Thanks for all the research and time involved.

Val

I enjoyed reading the assessments of each memebr of the group. I could identify with some of the technology issues - not in teaching an online class but primarily, thinking back to setting up and then controlling my first GoToMeeting dissertation defense call for a learner. It was a challenge and can still be, especially if not used on a regular basis.

This research work presented by experienced authors serves as an eye-opener that creates awareness from teachers' perspectives and valuable tools to students as well. It is a piece of work that depicts real life experience and the trend education as relates to teacher identity and learning modalities is heading. From students' perspectives, it is important to understand how face-to-face classroom training differs from virtual environment for teachers. Such information help students create new imagination on how to conduct themselves when working with teachers who are shifting from "ground" to "online" teaching modality or who are combining both modalities.

Their work is a great piece of information that benefits both veteran and new teachers, and students alike.

J. Ibeh Agbanyim

This article poses interesting questions regarding the transformation of teaching identities for on-ground faculty who transfer to online faculty.  These issues do not occur for facilitators who begin and continue as a distant learning teaching career.  This article provides important information for instructors to contemplate prior to changing their career from on-ground to online faculty.