What is it that tutors do, or should do, in support of the online learner ? Some have sought to explore and clarify by the adoption of particular metaphors, such as moderator, mentor, or facilitator, to describe the tutor's role. These terms have their value in guiding our behaviour as online tutors, but their force is primarily to warn us to stand aside. The evidence is that too much or inappropriate, contribution to tutorial discussion by the tutor can inhibit contributions by the students. The rhetoric of facilitator and moderator speaks of a duty to liberate the students, and empower them to participate in their own learning. This has the ring of critical pedagogy about it, which would seek to remove the authority of the teacher, casting teacher and learner as equal participants in the educational endeavour. Such protestations of equality will ultimately show themselves to being disingenuous, however, when the imperative of assessment rears its ugly head. Worse, though is the fact that these formulations guide us about what we shouldn't do, but remain rather silent about what we should be doing. If the online tutor is going to move from centre stage and sacrifice some ideas of his or her sagacity, what sorts of roles might be taken up to contribute to the guidance of the online learner ? There are paradoxes here.
The passage is an analysis of:
Paradoxes of online tutoring.
To answer the question about the main focus of the passage, let's analyze its content step by step.
- The passage discusses the role of tutors in online learning environments. It explores how terms like moderator, mentor, or facilitator are used to describe what tutors should do for online learners.
- These terms suggest that tutors should avoid dominating discussions, allowing students to become more active participants in their own learning. This indicates a shift towards empowering students and recognizing them as equal participants in the educational process.
- The passage points out the paradox in this approach – although this equality is emphasized, the reality of assessments still places some level of authority back in the hands of the tutor, creating a contradiction.
- The ending of the passage explicitly mentions the presence of paradoxes, indicating that the central theme is the contradictions inherent in the tutor's role in online learning.
Given this analysis, the correct answer is that the passage is an analysis of the Paradoxes of online tutoring. The other options like the traditional educational system, new assessment methodology, or Indian vocational education are not discussed in the passage.
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