Professional Teaching Dispositions of Online Instructors: Why they Matter

This paper explores the disconnect between face-to-face and online instructors with respect to professional teaching dispositions and addresses why educators should be as aware of their teaching dispositions. The assumption is often made that good Internet connectivity, high quality equipment, and solid content knowledge are all that is needed for instructors to be effective in the online classroom, yet research has shown that instructors must also possess strong professional teaching dispositions to truly be effective educators. With an ever-increasing number of students enrolled in online courses, institutions need to identify what is effective online teaching and the professional teaching dispositions one needs to be an effective educator in online environments. Professional teaching dispositions are defined as those professional attitudes, values and beliefs demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal behaviors as educators interact with students, families, colleagues, and communities and are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, and honesty.