2. The Traditional Excellent Teacher

When students and course participants are asked how an excellent teacher (in a traditional setting) should be like, we usually get answers according to the following list.
An excellent teacher

• is engaged and demonstrates great interest in the field or in the subject
• is engaged and demonstrates great interest in the field or in the subject
• gives structured presentations
• is able to communicate with the course participants
• speaks clearly and writes understandably
• presents the material in an exciting and relevant way
• creates variation in the presentation
• is able to show the human being behind the professional (the hardest one)

If you, traditionally, are a good teacher according to this bullet list, we claim that you have possibilities to become a successful video lecturer, provided that you consider the possibilities and limitation this medium offers. On the other hand, if you continue to teach on video conference exactly as if it was an ordinary personal teaching, there is a substantial danger of failure and that you will experience dissatisfied students. To be a reasonable good teacher in the "old" way is a necessary condition to become a skilled video lecturer. We have never experienced that people have become more skilled lecturers on video than they are in traditional teaching.

This course focuses on the small adaptations that have to be made in visual communication compared to personal teaching. The communication principles and challenges are exactly the same: By some personal and technical "tools" you want to transform knowledge from within a subject or topic to a group of students (here we mean 'tools' in a wide sense, i.e. both our own behaviour, voice, writing etc and more technical tools as whiteboard, document camera etc.).

However, there are more technical challenges: The interaction and use of advanced technical equipment may be difficult for many teachers.

Secondly, there is a more extensive planning phase. In addition to traditional knowledge transformation, even experienced video lecturers use a lot more time to plan activities and use of different video sources, make up some kind of broadcast schedules etc. to be able to create variation in the presentations.

Lastly, there is a more demanding completion of teaching. It is normally more difficult to maintain two-way communications, and the technical part of the course must be controlled.

But, given that

• the technical equipment and all connections are working properly,
• the accessories are used in a balanced and reasonable way,
• the goals for the lesson are met,
• you give varied and reflected presentations, and
• finally, and most important: YOU are positive to this kind of teaching and feel comfortable,

your students will appreciate your teaching almost as much as your traditional knowledge transformation.

Please look at the video clip below. Several groups of students participate in a video lecture in mathematics. If these people should meet physically, many of them must have travelled for hours.