apply in an intensive online education environment. In particular, the elements that comprise a successful online experience for instructors and students, and the provision of student support and well-being services are considered. Online Teaching: Critical Factors As online modes of study continue to expand, there is increasing awareness of the need for competent online instructors. Developing institutional competence for online instruction requires a careful approach to training online instructors and a workload investment in staff training and development (Gregory and Lodge, 2015). While it is acknowledged that face-to-face teaching competencies such as knowledge of curricula and pedagogy do transfer to online contexts, it is also important to recognize the unique competencies required for online teaching success, and the role of institutions in setting instructor duties and responsibilities (Alvarez et al., 2009). Despite much prior research attention exploring the notion of online student readiness, online instructor readiness is now emerging as an equally important construct (Oomen-Early and Murphy, 2009). There is consensus in prior literature that effective online instruction requires a more flexible approach to skill development, due to the variety of roles and skills applied in online contexts (Bawane and Spector, 2009). Key environmental differences between online and on-campus learning environments also necessitate the development of different online teaching competencies. A sample of existing frameworks for teacher competencies in online education is summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1. Established teacher competency frameworks in online education. The ability to effectively communicate, manage technology, and deliver and assess content becomes especially important in intensive online environments, where there is less available time to acclimatize to new tools and operating environments. The monitoring of student progress, identification, and follow-up of issues or barriers are also critical duties for instructors to minimize the likelihood of student disengagement or withdrawal. Online learning systems employ a variety of online tools, systems, and software, which place new demands on the technical competence of instructors (Volery and Lord, 2000). Modes of communication also differ in online courses, with a greater reliance on asynchronous 15
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