Official introduction text
In “training material 3 (TM3)” the focus is on tutoring international, intercultural and diverse learner groups, including the usage of digital Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools at education institutions for Vocational Education and Training (VET) as well as Higher Education (HE).
As a basis for TM3 we referred to Smith (2005) with “Fifty-One competencies for Online Instruction” which then were increased to 72 competencies for online instruction and supplemented with competencies for intercultural teaching based on the literature that has been accumulated.
Furthermore, the identified competencies were summarized and put into categories to obtain a better overview. As a result, we were able to allocate the identified competencies to 5 categories: teaching skills, communication skills, technical skills, intercultural competence and commitment.
“Teaching” and “tutoring” are two expressions which are not differentiated in every country. In Germany, these mean two slightly different approaches towards educating another person. "Tutoring" in Germany has more of a specialized and individual character. It refers to a setting in which a tutor is either instructing another person or a small group. The focus is set on the support of the learning process and not on teaching the person or group.This definition does not apply to every country, for instance, in Spain, tutoring and teaching are being used as synonyms. In the USA, tutoring refers to a specific type of teacher who is giving additional lessons for students, learners, depending on their need.
Hence, in this concept, "teaching" and "tutoring" will be referring to the same instructional approach. This also applies to the terms “teacher”, “trainer” and “online tutor”, since this training material should be applicable for teaching staff at different educational institutions.
Additionally, the following definition of “competence” will be applied in this concept.
“A competence is describing a person’s ability to apply his skills effectively when needed“.