Good practices of delivery and teaching leadership for online educators in technical disciplines: A perspective

Abstract

While there are works on best practices in teaching, there is a lack of literature that concerns the associated leadership aspect. However, contemporary online educators largely play the role of leaders consciously or unconsciously. Further, STEM and technical social science subjects like finance can be related to a substantial cognitive load if instructions are poorly designed, and more so in an online context where students and educators may not have a close connection. This perspective article, drawing on the author's own experience as a successful online educator with consistently high student satisfaction scores and multiple teaching awards and referring to literature, conceptualizes good online teaching practices in technical disciplines across two dimensions -virtual leadership and cognitive load management. The perspective then suggests strategies particularly applicable in technical disciplines to achieve satisfactory learning outcomes. It is acknowledged that online delivery and style of teaching adopted by educators can be subjective and dependent on context. However, the practices suggested, including communicating expectations, developing trust-relationship with students, adaptations beyond conventional teaching and textbook, and designing and sequencing resources while considering cognitive load management, may positively impact online students' learning experience in STEM and technical social science disciplines.