Teachers, Tutors, and Mentors: New Roles or Professionals?

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to describe the main transformations of our Information Society and to show how these kinds of transformations are changing teaching roles in schools and universities. Particularly, the focus is on teachers and tutors in on line education: the first ones are gradually passing from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side” (of the learner) and understanding that their job is no longer individual, because their activities are much more staff activities; the second ones are really important because the learner, in an online environment, needs more than in presence to be helped from the cognitive and emotive point of view. The chapter provides a description of the main activities of these professionals: organization, knowledge and experience sharing, and evaluation. In conclusion, we try to indicate some problems whose importance decision makers should consider.