TRDEV-L Digest - 19 May 2000 to 20 May 2000 Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 09:11:25 -0700 From: jay cross Subject: Re: What is an e-Trainer? Someone asked "What is an e-Trainer?" It's a variety of functions. To differentiate the roles from those of the traditional trainer, I've started using the term "e-Guide." Here's why: eLearners interact in many ways. They "attend" virtual presentations, seminars, and classes. They participate in online discussions, both real-time and anytime. They connect with fellow learners, learning coaches, mentors, facilitators, and others by email, video conference, telephone, messaging, and voice chat. They get together when they hit a bump in the road (help desk) or at a scheduled time (office hours). To make the most of a virtual learning environment, most learners need a Guide. Classroom trainers have always worn many hats. The eLearning environment adds more. The on-line roles are more challenging but also more flexible and varied. The new job is to answer questions, to coach, to steer, to encourage, to lead -- but not to instruct. There's less travel and more variety. Let's call this new role "eLearning Guide." The Guide's role changes over time. At first, the Guide spends time kicking things off, defining boundaries, organizing the learning process, and explaining how things work. The Guide sets expectations and monitors participation. With the passage of time, more and more responsibility for learning shifts from the instructor to the learner. The Guide becomes more a mentor, coach, advisor, and trouble-shooter. As learners become more experienced and a group culture takes hold, the Guide spends less face-to-face time with learners, real or virtual. But as the group matures, the Guide will need a greater depth of subject-matter expertise (to noodle through the issues groups of learners couldn't figure out for themselves.) For more on this, see . Patti Schank has written an excellent article that homes in on the e-Guide's specific tasks. See *Community Building on the Web*, a fine new book on building communities in general gives different insights into the eLearning Guide function. See . Elliott Masie clings to the term e-Trainer but puts many roles under that umbrella, everything from assembling content to supporting learners to "air traffic controller" to testing to coaching. All the best! jay Jay Cross, Internet Time Group, Berkeley, California 1.510.528.3105 (Berkeley) 1.650.799.7893 (mobile) eLearning pages-www.InternetTime.com ------------------------------