Effective Recruitment and Selection of Online Tutors
Sharon Slade, Fenella Galpin
Open University, United Kingdom
The Open University Business School has offered online tuition versions of several courses for the past 8 years. This session will discuss experiences in developing a different approach to the recruitment and selection of tutors for online tuition courses. In addition to the basic technical skills and access to appropriate ICT, required skills include an understanding of the constraints and benefits of online communication, the use of appropriate style and language, and cultural differences. We discuss how we manage our approach effectively, taking into account factors introduced as a natural consequence of working with online media, for example, timing of appointments and the geographic dispersion of tutors.The approach adopted has evolved as a result of experience and application to a wide range of different courses and requirements. Applicants must demonstrate the necessary skills for tutoring and facilitating groups of students online through various online exercises and responses to questions and sample online community postings. Our paper will be of interest to those who are looking to recruit tutors to facilitate groups of students online and give an understanding of the skills and competences required from those tutors, as well as ways of developing an effective way of assessing those skills and competences.no references included