Personal Learning Plan for Online Coaching

The chart below shows the four roles of an online coach: Social Director, Technician, Instructor, Program Manager.  I've put them in the order that they apply to me - from weakest to strongest.  This was an excellent exercise to see where I needed to focus to be strong in all four coaching areas.

Four Roles of an Online Teacher

Social Director, Program Manager, Technician, Instructor

Online Roles - (Weakest to Strongest)	Skills Needed (Gain or Strengthen)	Action Plan
Social Director	Tools to keep students focused on discussion thread/forum Balance students’ needs to interact outside the prompt or discussion Monitor students’ interactions without taking control of the discussion	Use both synchronous and asynchronous tools Provide a place like a Water Cooler for students to interact Take enough time to connect with each student individually Teach rules of “netiquette” for communicating with peers/teacher online
Technician	Knowledge of a variety of Web 2.0 tools to help facilitate learning and provide differentiated instruction	Expand knowledge of Web 2.0 tools - particularly collaborative tools -  to allow broader choice of formative and summative assessments Focus on age-appropriate tools
Instructor	Create a learning environment that is accessible, allows for choice, and provides a balance of collaboration, individual work, feedback and authentic assessments of student learning.	Learn a variety of ways to present information and check for mastery Set clear expectations (rubrics) and timelines Try to reach out to community members/experts in field to provide real-life application/knowledge of information.
Program Manager	Try to keep from overloading students Teach them how to stay focused, manage their time	Create modules that incorporate many formative assessments, not just summative, to help students pace themselves Provide specific learning strategies on how to manage time