In the study, published in the journal Educational Research Review, the web of science and google scholar were systematically searched for studies where the instructor and the students were online at the same time and used software that included video, audio and instant messaging. The 30 studies identified were all from 2009 or later, with more than half published in the last five years. Using a constant comparison method, the authors found five roles adopted by successful online teachers:

The instructional role

This role covers basic pedagogical competences that are applicable to a range of areas. The seven competencies in this group are therefore important for all teachers regardless of whether they teach online or not. Here, teachers need to be able to:

  1. Organize the learning process
  2. Stimulate active learning
  3. Design and (re)create learning materials and tasks
  4. Implement assessment
  5. Provide feedback
  6. Meet students’ personal learning needs
  7. Motivate students

The managerial role
This role involves the practical organization and administration of the online learning environment. Here, teachers need to be able to:

  1. Lead and control the course
  2. Establish monitoring protocols and rules
  3. Manage equipment
  4. Organize and plan the course

The technical role
As the name suggests, the technical role deals with the ability to handle all technical aspects of the videoconferencing environment. Here, teachers need to be able to:

  1. Support students technically
  2. Know how to use the different functions of the software
  3. Understand the affordances and constraints of these functions
  4. Have a positive attitude to the use of IT in education
  5. Exhibit and encourage appropriate digital behaviour

The communicational role
The main aspect here is facilitating smooth communication within the environment. Here, teachers need to be able to:

  1. Facilitate and encourage communication
  2. Master the different communication channels for pedagogical purposes
  3. Select appropriate channels for different learning scenarios
  4. Exhibit good communication skills

The social role
In order to be successful in the digital realm, a teacher needs to facilitate social interactions. Here, teachers need to be able to:

  1. Build an online community
  2. Take into account cultural differences
  3. Build student-teacher relationships
  4. Build student-student relationships

The paper concludes with a reminder that educational technology is subject to regular updates and changes. This means that teachers need to take a lifelong learning approach to their online teaching, keeping up with the latest functionalities and assessing their pedagogical affordances.

Comment: Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching (CeUL) at Stockholm University offers a number of courses and workshops relevant to this theme. Most relevant is the course in Open Networked Learning. During the autumn term 2023 a UL2 course in digital competence for teaching will be offered in Swedish.

The following links may also be useful (in Swedish)


Text: John Airey, Department of Teaching and Learning

The study
Grammens, M., Voet, M., Vanderlinde, R., Declercq, L., & De Wever, B. (2022). A systematic review of teacher roles and competences for teaching synchronously online through videoconferencing technology. Educational Research Review, 100461.

Keywords: Systematic review, Teaching online, Synchronous videoconferencing, Teacher roles, teacher competencies