The instructor clearly explains his or her role regarding participation in the online environment. Instructor participates and manages, yet lets students take reasonable ownership.

**Application**
Instructor works to keep students on task/topic with their online discussions. Instructor may offer prompts to refocus students to the task at hand or there may be the desired effect simply by them engaging with the discussion group. Monitor class discussions to make sure that one group (or person) is not dominating classroom discussion.

Example

As identified in Objective 4.5, this instructor also includes a section in the syllabus titled, Expectations of Instructor so that students have a clear understanding of the instructor's role in the course. Within the individual assignments, the instructor will join in discussions that may need a prompt to refocus and/or clarify.

**Objective 4.6 Example**
You can expect me to: Plan the course AND alter the plan as needed. I believe the best curriculum comes from the students. That means that we will take advantage of unforeseen events that capture our interest and then juggle the class topics as necessary. Give feedback. I take the assignments in this class seriously and have made giving feedback a top priority. Bring my expertise into the class discussions. This includes my years of formal study, work experience, and stories from real life. I believe we can learn from real life storied and encourage you to bring your own stories and encourage you to bring your own stories to stimulate class discussion as well. Make time for questions of course material. I will respond within 48 hours, but usually sooner. Be patient when you are struggling with ideas. To me, the struggling reveals that learning is taking place. Be open about options. I think it's great when students bring ideas and request topics to be discussed. Treat you as adult learners.

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