It’s quickly becoming clear that online learning courses are not just a popular fad, they are here to stay. Virtual teaching assistants have become an integral part of the educational process for Instructional Connection’s partner universities to meet the demand for these courses and ensure the best outcome for students.
While the specific responsibilities of your assistants vary depending on the institution and department, they all share a common goal: to help the faculty of record succeed in their teaching goals.
In this article, we’ll explore how virtual teaching assistants contribute and work with your curriculum and how they help the faculty of record succeed.
What Is a Virtual Teaching Assistant?
Virtual teaching assistants, also known as academic coaches, are experienced and highly qualified practitioners in their field of study. They have earned at least a graduate degree or higher from an accredited university. In some cases, they may also have years of experience working as a professor or teaching assistant at the collegiate level.
These individuals generally possess strong instructional, leadership, and educational backgrounds that contribute greatly to the overall student learning experience.
With the rise of distance learning, many teaching assistants can now work remotely at colleges that offer online learning programs. This setup enables many professors to get the support they need without being physically present in the same location.
What Are The Responsibilities & Contributions of Teaching Assistants?
The specific duties of your virtual teaching assistant will vary depending on the institution and department they are working within. However, there are some common responsibilities that our teaching assistants typically have.
- Monitor student participation and reach out to inactive or at-risk students.
- Assist or direct students to appropriate support with technology or other items as needed.
- Provide answers to content or policy questions following input from the faculty of record.
- Provide assistance with logistical or personal issues pertaining to the course or assignments as outlined by the faculty of record prior to the course start.
- Respond to emails and inquiries within 24 hours, including weekends (excluding major holidays).
- Grade assignments with appropriate feedback within 72 hours of the due date according to Faculty criteria.
- Participant in asynchronous discussions according to faculty of record criteria.
- Monitor discussion threads; document, remove, and then notify faculty and student of inappropriate comments or posts.
- Participate in weekly team meetings with the Faculty and/or Coordinating Coach via conference call or videoconference.
A main responsibility of our virtual teaching assistants is to monitor student progress. This includes tracking attendance, grades, and participation in class discussions.
Virtual teaching assistants enable faculty of record to focus on delivering their course curriculums and outcomes. Teaching assistants also allow many institutions to scale their courses to meet student enrollment demands.
Other Special Responsibilities
Virtual teaching assistants generally focus on enhancing student retention and success, but they also have other specific responsibilities.
Virtual teaching assistants can also serve as a point of primary interaction with their respective professors. Depending on the number of students and virtual teaching assistants in a course, one may be asked to be the coordinator.
This coordinating teaching assistant may take on special responsibilities such as:
- Coordinating multiple assistants’ work
- Assisting in clarifying a specific professor’s course policies
- Checking inter-rater reliability in rubric grading
- Reviewing student performance in assessments and discussions
These coordinating teaching assistants may serve as “working managers” who directly interact with academic leadership and faculty members.
Your Virtual Teaching Assistant
As technology advances, more and more teaching assistants take on virtual assistant roles to support faculty members and their curricula. These individuals provide support to professors and students alike.
Their benefits are numerous, but perhaps the most important is that they enable faculty members to focus only on delivering their curriculum. This allows students to receive a high-quality education regardless of their location.
Instructional Connections assists academic institutions to improve their online education courses by providing competent virtual assistants for numerous degree fields. If you’re interested in learning more about our virtual teaching assistants, we encourage you to contact us. Our team of experts is standing by and ready to answer any questions you may have!
