**2. Types of knowledge necessary for the 21st century teacher education**

Before the outbreak of COVID 19, the Twenty First Century already presented the world with complex advancements that are marked by new scientific discoveries, globalization, information explosion, development of astronautics, digital technology and artificial intelligence- to mention a few. It was already evident that the nature of knowledge as we knew it was going to change. In fact, there is now pressing need to update content in major academic disciplines; taking into consideration the need to focus on knowledge that is most worth. To this end the question that needs to be addressed is "What type of knowledge is of worth for teachers as they move from the classroom to the virtual learning environments? especially as the pandemic continue with restrictions on face-to-face learning. Past research that focused on teacher education for the 21st century, underscored that teachers need a strong knowledge base for effective practice and also to boost their academic efficacy [3, 5].

Historically, teaching started as one dimensional art – a case in which the basic knowledge that the teacher needed was that of the subject matter. With time the method of presenting become critical. and it became necessary for the teacher to have knowledge on how to organize and present content meaningfully. During this phase the main focus of training was on pedagogy. In the next phase, it become essential for a teacher to have knowledge of the learner, therefore educational psychology was stressed in teacher education programs. Then entered phase four that stressed that students learn better when resources are used and through interaction with mass media and people. Phase five, which is the latest development, now defines the teacher's role as a facilitator of learning rather than a provider of information. With technology, information is now on the web and learners only need to be facilitated to tap into it.

Unfortunately, teacher education programs in Kenya still operate in phase one and two, with even more emphasis on knowledge transmission. Referring to the

**73**

*From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences…*

allegory at the introduction, phase one of teacher education simulates the shallow end of the swimming pool. The level from which teachers were hurled into the deep end of learning with technological resources, depicted in phase four and five. This can be illustrated using the records of teaching online from one of the universities in Kenya (with permission). E- learning was introduced to the university in the year 2015. Up to 2018, through trainings and persuasions and resistance, only 150 courses had been launched on the university online platform. Between March and November 2020-when the pandemic struck, a total of 1470 courses had been mounted (with a panic that was evident in the sudden change in operations. The main concerns have been on how to deliver content to virtual learners. This section covers what teacher education should prioritize in terms of knowledge of the learner, the subject matter and the communication processes that contribute to

Teacher education programs now need to give priority to the knowledge of learners and how they will learn and develop within the context of the "New

and engagement to cater for the needs of diverse learners [1, 6, 7].

While a majority of teachers tend to rely on old notes (yellow notes) which were probably passed on from their own teachers or those they made in the yester years, technology has ushered in an age of information explosion. This requires the teacher to have a thorough understanding of how content in his/her subject matter is developing, in terms of goals and disciplinary demands. A famous educator Heidi Hayes in his book 21st Century Curriculum, emphasizes that a time has come when we need to update the content that is taught in educational programs or else we risk teaching obsolete knowledge. This is because we live in an age of knowledge explosion, a time that requires us to continuously upgrade knowledge- choosing on what knowledge to add or subtract in any given discipline. Teachers, particularly, need to

As it is, the nature of teaching requires, the teacher not only to be grounded in his subject, but to be able to relate the content of that subject with the socioeconomic, political and technological realities. All these come in as new knowledge that forms the core of interdisciplinary themes that need to be in cooperated in the teacher education program. These themes include knowledge that does not necessarily belong to a particular discipline. Examples are, climate change, family life

**2.2 Knowledge on content and resources**

have knowledge on changes in general [8].

Normal". For a long time, educators have relied on behavioral and cognitive theories to understand how learners learn; and this has made them believe that learners only react to and process knowledge that is presented to them. Literature on teacher education is littered with persuasion for teachers to adopt constructivist views that learners actually construct new knowledge based on their experiences. Beyond constructivism, recent research on educational technology advance transactional theory, as the model for online teaching. This theory presents teaching as a transactional business; and introduces a customer care language that teachers should adopt. Both learners and teachers form a community of inquirers, collaborating and making meaning of the learning content. In this context, it is critical to know how learner characteristics, circumstances and needs impact on the way they learn. One of the critical needs is for the learner to fit in the technologically wired world, and there is now a wider advocacy for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)- a model that stresses the use of multiple means of representation, action and expression,

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*

effective online teaching.

**2.1 Knowledge of the learner**

#### *From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*

allegory at the introduction, phase one of teacher education simulates the shallow end of the swimming pool. The level from which teachers were hurled into the deep end of learning with technological resources, depicted in phase four and five. This can be illustrated using the records of teaching online from one of the universities in Kenya (with permission). E- learning was introduced to the university in the year 2015. Up to 2018, through trainings and persuasions and resistance, only 150 courses had been launched on the university online platform. Between March and November 2020-when the pandemic struck, a total of 1470 courses had been mounted (with a panic that was evident in the sudden change in operations. The main concerns have been on how to deliver content to virtual learners. This section covers what teacher education should prioritize in terms of knowledge of the learner, the subject matter and the communication processes that contribute to effective online teaching.

### **2.1 Knowledge of the learner**

*Teacher Education in the 21st Century - Emerging Skills for a Changing World*

COVID-19 lock down [1].

teach effectively with technology.

swimming in the reverse order. The latter depicts the experience of many teachers in Kenya, as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic which led to abrupt closure of schools. From the "brick and mortar" classrooms, that have been sacred comfort zones, the teachers suddenly found themselves thrown into virtual learning environments, which neither their initial training nor in-service programs had prepared them for. This was not unique to Kenya, as there were about 1.5 billion students and 63 million teachers who engaged in online teaching and learning during the

In Kenya the ministry of education encouraged schools, colleges and universities to combine use of radio and television with on online teaching as the country adhered to international and national guidelines on social distancing [2]. The International Council for Open and Distance Education also offered website, webinars and resources for teachers, but all these have not been adequate; as evidenced in issues related to course designs, content support, course assessment, learner and teacher characteristics [3, 4]. Indeed, recent research on online learning indicate gaps in accessibility of e-resources, use of online tools, management of platforms, instructional methods, and teacher development programs [1]. Teacher education programs at the university are challenged to support teacher educator' s efforts in strengthening the ICT capacities of teacher trainees, as they prepare for more technologically oriented classrooms. In this chapter the researcher explores the kind of knowledge, competences, skills and pedagogical strategies that teachers need, to

**2. Types of knowledge necessary for the 21st century teacher education**

Before the outbreak of COVID 19, the Twenty First Century already presented the world with complex advancements that are marked by new scientific discoveries, globalization, information explosion, development of astronautics, digital technology and artificial intelligence- to mention a few. It was already evident that the nature of knowledge as we knew it was going to change. In fact, there is now pressing need to update content in major academic disciplines; taking into consideration the need to focus on knowledge that is most worth. To this end the question that needs to be addressed is "What type of knowledge is of worth for teachers as they move from the classroom to the virtual learning environments? especially as the pandemic continue with restrictions on face-to-face learning. Past research that focused on teacher education for the 21st century, underscored that teachers need a strong knowledge base for effective practice and also to boost their academic

Historically, teaching started as one dimensional art – a case in which the basic knowledge that the teacher needed was that of the subject matter. With time the method of presenting become critical. and it became necessary for the teacher to have knowledge on how to organize and present content meaningfully. During this phase the main focus of training was on pedagogy. In the next phase, it become essential for a teacher to have knowledge of the learner, therefore educational psychology was stressed in teacher education programs. Then entered phase four that stressed that students learn better when resources are used and through interaction with mass media and people. Phase five, which is the latest development, now defines the teacher's role as a facilitator of learning rather than a provider of information. With technology, information is now on the web and learners only need to

Unfortunately, teacher education programs in Kenya still operate in phase one and two, with even more emphasis on knowledge transmission. Referring to the

**72**

efficacy [3, 5].

be facilitated to tap into it.

Teacher education programs now need to give priority to the knowledge of learners and how they will learn and develop within the context of the "New Normal". For a long time, educators have relied on behavioral and cognitive theories to understand how learners learn; and this has made them believe that learners only react to and process knowledge that is presented to them. Literature on teacher education is littered with persuasion for teachers to adopt constructivist views that learners actually construct new knowledge based on their experiences. Beyond constructivism, recent research on educational technology advance transactional theory, as the model for online teaching. This theory presents teaching as a transactional business; and introduces a customer care language that teachers should adopt. Both learners and teachers form a community of inquirers, collaborating and making meaning of the learning content. In this context, it is critical to know how learner characteristics, circumstances and needs impact on the way they learn. One of the critical needs is for the learner to fit in the technologically wired world, and there is now a wider advocacy for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)- a model that stresses the use of multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement to cater for the needs of diverse learners [1, 6, 7].

#### **2.2 Knowledge on content and resources**

While a majority of teachers tend to rely on old notes (yellow notes) which were probably passed on from their own teachers or those they made in the yester years, technology has ushered in an age of information explosion. This requires the teacher to have a thorough understanding of how content in his/her subject matter is developing, in terms of goals and disciplinary demands. A famous educator Heidi Hayes in his book 21st Century Curriculum, emphasizes that a time has come when we need to update the content that is taught in educational programs or else we risk teaching obsolete knowledge. This is because we live in an age of knowledge explosion, a time that requires us to continuously upgrade knowledge- choosing on what knowledge to add or subtract in any given discipline. Teachers, particularly, need to have knowledge on changes in general [8].

As it is, the nature of teaching requires, the teacher not only to be grounded in his subject, but to be able to relate the content of that subject with the socioeconomic, political and technological realities. All these come in as new knowledge that forms the core of interdisciplinary themes that need to be in cooperated in the teacher education program. These themes include knowledge that does not necessarily belong to a particular discipline. Examples are, climate change, family life

education, entrepreneurship and health education [9]. The 21st century require teachers to be able to utilize such interdisciplinary knowledge to help students solve complex problems of the world such as climate change and unemployment. Though recent reforms in teacher education in Kenya introduced courses such as Educational Guidance and Counselling, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Education to capture this need, a lot more should be done to help teacher educators access online resources that can aid in the teaching of these and other content as they pass on the requisite knowledge to teacher trainees.

The WWW search engines provide a plethora of information regarding all subject matter. E-resources such as electronic books, electronic journals, dictionaries, newspapers, magazines, references, directories, and audio-visual materials are available for use [10]. Teachers should have knowledge on the different types of e-resources and how to access them. Both teacher educators and teacher trainees should be guided not just on how to access URLs that connect users to licensed digital resources, but in the understanding of the relationship between the URL and the technological infrastructure. This has become a challenge as libraries are also in a dilemma on whether to create accessibility of digital resources through library catalogues or separate databases [11]. In Kenya, the United Nations, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development -at the Kenya Education Cloud (kec.ac.ke), together with the Kenya Broadcast Cooperation have attempted to provide resources for online teaching, particularly for basic education [12]. The teacher trainees going to teach in high school would benefit from such resources.

#### **2.3 Knowledge on communication process**

Communication is defined as a two-way process of interaction which allows people to convey information and reach, a mutual understanding. Online teaching requires effective communication, which can only be achieved if the teacher understands the communication process. This includes knowledge on how communication is transacted between human beings, and applying the same in understanding how different computer programs work. Brooks in his book "Web-Teaching: A Guide to Designing Interactive Teaching for the World Wide Web" points out that learning computer programs can be challenging- it is "almost like learning a programming language in terms of how it works and what it does". There are special programs for specific disciplines. For instance, in chemistry there is a special program for creating images of molecular structures [13].

Coming back to human communication, it is important for the teacher to master the basic process of communication which includes encoding of the message by the sender, the communication channel, noise factors, and the process of encoding of the message and feedback by the receiver. In the context of online teaching, the teacher acts a sender of information, which he passes on to the learners using appropriate channel or media; the students receive and decode -interpret the information and gives feedback to the teacher. It is the responsibility of the teacher to eliminate noise factors which presents themselves as actual noise or related factors, that can potentially act as barriers to the communication process.

#### **3. Competencies for online teaching**

Competence can be defined as an excellent capability in undertaking a given task. In this discussion, competence comprises of knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences that will enable teachers to teach for optimum learning to take place. While Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is trending – Kenya having adopted

**75**

fulfilled here.

*From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences…*

CBC in 2018, a lot of teacher education programs still emphasize Content Based Curriculum; that stresses knowing and not doing. Particularly, in the era of online learning the focus should be on what the learner should be able to do with technology as he learns and operate in the "New Normal". As far as this is concerned the teacher is expected to be an effective model of competence. Ironically, students engage more in learning using open and free sources and web-based devices more than their teachers. Research further indicates that even when teachers are willing to engage with these devices, the professional development on new learning designs and delivery is slow and teachers are not as innovative. On this note, there is call to produce teachers with teaching innovations and professionally viable competencies. In online teaching, the teacher should be competent in creating, organizing and managing a course [6, 14]. The following sections analyze competencies related to

In order to create and manage an online course effectively, the teacher should be familiar with Learning Management System (LMS). In Kenya only a few teachers can create, organize and manage an online course using a given type of an LMS [4]. For clarification. LMS refer to web based or cloud based software programs which help teachers to organize and manage online courses. They come in three categories as follows; (1) open source-examples are Moodle and SAKAY (2) Cloud based -such as Digital Chalk, Docebo SaaS LMS, TalentLMS, Firmwater LMS, and Litmos LMS, and (3) Proprietary Learning Management System-these are licensed by their developers under the legal rights belonging to the copyright owner (s), examples are Design2Leran, and ANGEL (property of Blackboard Inc.). Among these, Moodle is commonly used in Kenyan Universities, but many lecturers have not explored its multimedia tools which would support in the generation of content, assignments, and quizzes; as well as the features of interaction such as discussion groups and chat

The actual creation of a course will further require competencies in accessing and using digital media skillfully; analyzing and evaluating content in terms of its "quality, veracity, credibility, while considering potential effects and consequences of messages". Additionally, the teacher also needs to be able to create his/her own content and reflect on ethical consequences [7, p. 25-Dalton citing Hobbs].

It is critical to create conducive social climates for the virtual classrooms. Education serves a social function, and borrowing from the theory of distributed Cognition and constructivism; knowledge is distributed among people and through sharing individuals construct new knowledge. This can only happen in mutually supported environments. On this note, it is important to create a conducive environment right from the beginning of an online course. This requires setting rules and etiquettes for the course and having students sign up to comply. The students should also have a slot for self-introduction and expressions of expectations. The following excerpt is shared from an online course EDTE 301 Educational

My name is Masitsa Lydia, I am accessing this course from Uasin GIshu county. I am so privileged to be part of this group and I strongly believe that my desire to understand the essence of technology to education in our country today will be

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*

**3.1 Creating, organizing and managing an online course**

**3.2 Creating effective social climate in online classrooms**

Communication and Technology for illustration.

Student "A"- Saturday, 12 September 2020, 7:10 PM

these requirements.

sessions [15].

*From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*

CBC in 2018, a lot of teacher education programs still emphasize Content Based Curriculum; that stresses knowing and not doing. Particularly, in the era of online learning the focus should be on what the learner should be able to do with technology as he learns and operate in the "New Normal". As far as this is concerned the teacher is expected to be an effective model of competence. Ironically, students engage more in learning using open and free sources and web-based devices more than their teachers. Research further indicates that even when teachers are willing to engage with these devices, the professional development on new learning designs and delivery is slow and teachers are not as innovative. On this note, there is call to produce teachers with teaching innovations and professionally viable competencies. In online teaching, the teacher should be competent in creating, organizing and managing a course [6, 14]. The following sections analyze competencies related to these requirements.

#### **3.1 Creating, organizing and managing an online course**

In order to create and manage an online course effectively, the teacher should be familiar with Learning Management System (LMS). In Kenya only a few teachers can create, organize and manage an online course using a given type of an LMS [4]. For clarification. LMS refer to web based or cloud based software programs which help teachers to organize and manage online courses. They come in three categories as follows; (1) open source-examples are Moodle and SAKAY (2) Cloud based -such as Digital Chalk, Docebo SaaS LMS, TalentLMS, Firmwater LMS, and Litmos LMS, and (3) Proprietary Learning Management System-these are licensed by their developers under the legal rights belonging to the copyright owner (s), examples are Design2Leran, and ANGEL (property of Blackboard Inc.). Among these, Moodle is commonly used in Kenyan Universities, but many lecturers have not explored its multimedia tools which would support in the generation of content, assignments, and quizzes; as well as the features of interaction such as discussion groups and chat sessions [15].

The actual creation of a course will further require competencies in accessing and using digital media skillfully; analyzing and evaluating content in terms of its "quality, veracity, credibility, while considering potential effects and consequences of messages". Additionally, the teacher also needs to be able to create his/her own content and reflect on ethical consequences [7, p. 25-Dalton citing Hobbs].

#### **3.2 Creating effective social climate in online classrooms**

It is critical to create conducive social climates for the virtual classrooms. Education serves a social function, and borrowing from the theory of distributed Cognition and constructivism; knowledge is distributed among people and through sharing individuals construct new knowledge. This can only happen in mutually supported environments. On this note, it is important to create a conducive environment right from the beginning of an online course. This requires setting rules and etiquettes for the course and having students sign up to comply. The students should also have a slot for self-introduction and expressions of expectations. The following excerpt is shared from an online course EDTE 301 Educational Communication and Technology for illustration.

Student "A"- Saturday, 12 September 2020, 7:10 PM

My name is Masitsa Lydia, I am accessing this course from Uasin GIshu county. I am so privileged to be part of this group and I strongly believe that my desire to understand the essence of technology to education in our country today will be fulfilled here.

*Teacher Education in the 21st Century - Emerging Skills for a Changing World*

they pass on the requisite knowledge to teacher trainees.

teach in high school would benefit from such resources.

program for creating images of molecular structures [13].

potentially act as barriers to the communication process.

**3. Competencies for online teaching**

**2.3 Knowledge on communication process**

education, entrepreneurship and health education [9]. The 21st century require teachers to be able to utilize such interdisciplinary knowledge to help students solve complex problems of the world such as climate change and unemployment. Though recent reforms in teacher education in Kenya introduced courses such as Educational Guidance and Counselling, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Education to capture this need, a lot more should be done to help teacher educators access online resources that can aid in the teaching of these and other content as

The WWW search engines provide a plethora of information regarding all subject matter. E-resources such as electronic books, electronic journals, dictionaries, newspapers, magazines, references, directories, and audio-visual materials are available for use [10]. Teachers should have knowledge on the different types of e-resources and how to access them. Both teacher educators and teacher trainees should be guided not just on how to access URLs that connect users to licensed digital resources, but in the understanding of the relationship between the URL and the technological infrastructure. This has become a challenge as libraries are also in a dilemma on whether to create accessibility of digital resources through library catalogues or separate databases [11]. In Kenya, the United Nations, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development -at the Kenya Education Cloud (kec.ac.ke), together with the Kenya Broadcast Cooperation have attempted to provide resources for online teaching, particularly for basic education [12]. The teacher trainees going to

Communication is defined as a two-way process of interaction which allows people to convey information and reach, a mutual understanding. Online teaching requires effective communication, which can only be achieved if the teacher understands the communication process. This includes knowledge on how communication is transacted between human beings, and applying the same in understanding how different computer programs work. Brooks in his book "Web-Teaching: A Guide to Designing Interactive Teaching for the World Wide Web" points out that learning computer programs can be challenging- it is "almost like learning a programming language in terms of how it works and what it does". There are special programs for specific disciplines. For instance, in chemistry there is a special

Coming back to human communication, it is important for the teacher to master

the basic process of communication which includes encoding of the message by the sender, the communication channel, noise factors, and the process of encoding of the message and feedback by the receiver. In the context of online teaching, the teacher acts a sender of information, which he passes on to the learners using appropriate channel or media; the students receive and decode -interpret the information and gives feedback to the teacher. It is the responsibility of the teacher to eliminate noise factors which presents themselves as actual noise or related factors, that can

Competence can be defined as an excellent capability in undertaking a given task. In this discussion, competence comprises of knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences that will enable teachers to teach for optimum learning to take place. While Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is trending – Kenya having adopted

**74**

Student "B" - Monday, 7 September 2020, 3:48 PM

am Emmanuel Wambua a fourth year student doing bachelor degree in education from Machakos. I expect that at the end of the course I will be able to apply technology as part of communication in my teaching career.

The foregoing postings are expressions of who the students are and their expectations. They set pace for further interactions. Subsequently, as the teacher develops course materials, each topic should have a discussion forum or chats- which not only helps the teacher to assess learning progress, but also to assess the evolving attitudes of learners towards each other and the course. The class can also be divided into smaller discussion groups to boost bonding. Another social media which is useful in enhancing cohesion, and is commonly used by students in Kenya, is WhatsApp. Most learning platforms are also connected to emails through which the teacher can send private messages to students on respective assignments or issues. A research that explored MOOC as a form of professional development found that the participants liked the use of face book page and emails in supporting learning, but were not conversant with twitter; yet twitter chats are becoming an effective way of professional development-helping teachers to share their research, ideas and building positive digital foot prints. Blogs too, can be used for posting assignments, projects and networking [16–18].

The next set of competencies that are equally important have to do with professional ethics. These comprise patterns of professional behaviors, self- reflection and moral integrity. Online learning is very complex and dynamic, involving multiple players and sources of information. It calls for a high level of responsibility- according respect and maintaining confidentiality with regard to students' information. The increased use of facilities such as e-mails and other virtual communication can lead to comprises. It is however important to attach and express value and respect to all online course stake holders, particularly when using presentation tools such as Google meet, Big Blue Button, and Zoom that allow for live video conferences. During such interactions, the teacher should act professionally and also require students to exemplify the right decorum [18]. The researcher puts significance on this point because research seems to indicate that teachers and student teachers are less likely to undertake activities that involve interaction with others, and that it is hardest to teach competencies that have to do with soft skills to teachers [5].

#### **3.3 Adherence to copy right rules**

In the process of creating an online course, there is need to observe integrity with regard to copy right rules. This involves acknowledging of all sources of information that are used in the course, and where necessary asking for permission to use material as indicated by the source. In order to do this, the instructor needs to be conversant with different types of information sources, with regard to their use. We have plenty of open sources of information, while other sources have varying restrictions on use. Learners should also be educated on copy right regulations and held accountable for any violations. While there have been attempts by specialist in copyright regulations such as The National Unit of Copyright Unit of Australia to support teachers in Australia [3] those in Kenya are disadvantaged. Essentially, online learning will only be credible to the extent that the instructor will also observe ethical diligence in the quality of content, learning and assessments offered. For assessment, this does not only require competence in varying test items, but using monitoring tools during examination to ensure examination integrity.

**77**

still doing the quiz.

*From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences…*

The nature of digital resources requires that teachers must constantly acquire and implement new skills as technology advances. This is the reason why scholars who have taken interest in online learning recommend professional development as one of the pillars of sustainability of e-learning. Recent studies have revealed that even though computer literacy would improve the uptake of e-Learning in Kenyan universities both lecturers and students have limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. The scenario worsens in cases where there are differences in digital literacies between teachers and students [1, 15, 16]. In this section the researcher brings into perspective computer skills that are useful in conducting online teaching, that should be emphasized in teacher education

Some of the important features of Microsoft word that are useful in creating content for teaching include; desktop publishing, formatting, grammar check, spell checking, tables, web format; electronic spread sheet features such as spread sheets and work books, auto formatting, charting, what-if-analysis, archiving, and academic software such as games, simulations, drill and practice, and integrated learning systems. Mastering these features and their functions is essential because band width and security issues normally limit the use of WWW in many ways and a teacher may have to create his/her own instructional materials using options such as

Other additional skills include how to create and use the following types of multimedia; images, drawings/paintings, animations, graphs, sounds, 3D, and virtual reality. For example, how to image tag using GIF wizard, getting pictures using scanners, photo CDs, digital still cameras and using them to create simple animations; and recording voice on power points. Since students learn in multiple ways and learning is also enriched through multiple sensory input, the teacher should be skilled in presenting content and facilitating learning using a variety of multimedia. Notably, in the digital world there is also need to constantly rework and rewrite documents [19], this makes it necessary for the teacher to be skilled in

The teacher should be familiar with the features of different Learning Management Systems and the functions of each of the integrated tools; so that one can successfully create content for a given course and manage it throughout the semester. Most universities avail a web site for online teaching, but the management of the individual courses depend on the skills of the individual faculty. For example, in using Moodle platform, there are important features such as "edit" and "add activity". The activity can be a label, assignment, quiz, discussion forum, file, and so on. Once you click an activity like a quiz you need to be skilled in setting up the quiz, editing- meaning adding or and editing at times deleting or revising questions. While doing this, related features have to be controlled for example striking the editing button and selecting hide the quiz from students; otherwise those who are online will see the quiz/test prematurely (this has happened to some teachers). It is also important to go into review options and block students from reviewing the quiz when it is still open, because they may share answers with those

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*

programs.

**4.1 Word processing**

**4. Types of skills necessary for online teaching**

CD-ROMs; which students can access asynchronously.

using different features of Microsoft word.

**4.2 Skills in management of online platforms**

*From the Classroom into Virtual Learning Environments: Essential Knowledge, Competences… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96950*
