After conducting the interviews, this chapter analyzed and discussed the data obtained for this study. The number of participants who were part of the interviews were ten. The information collected helped the researcher to present a broad idea of the teacher satisfaction with online courses at the mandarin training center.
The findings were arranged into six themes which responded the research questions of the present study. The first theme looked at the experience of mandarin training center online teachers. The second theme looked at the satisfaction of mandarin training center Online teachers while the third theme focused on the components to increase the satisfaction of mandarin training center Online teachers. The fourth theme looked at the satisfaction characteristics and the fifth theme focused on the difficulties and challenges of the online teaching job position. The last theme looked at the improvement of teacher satisfaction. The findings are presented in the following paragraph.
Experience of the Mandarin Training Center Online Teachers
This section examined the outcome of teaching experiences of the online teachers at the mandarin training center based on one of the research question which was stated as “What are the online teachers’ experience with online mandarin Chinese courses?” In order to answer the question, data were gathered from online teachers of MTC online. A qualitative data analysis was conducted in order to obtain deep findings about their online teaching experience. This section included descriptions of all the interviewees of this study in order to better understand their experiences as mandarin online teachers.
Work Position
The use of technology in education has produced a change in terms of the role of the teacher and the nature of teaching (Redmond, 2011). The online course teacher is no longer the dispenser of knowledge due to the increase of educational resources on the internet (O’Neil, 2006). The use of technology within the mandarin training center has transformed the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese. As online mandarin Chinese courses were implemented a few years ago in the mandarin training center, the role of a teacher has changed within the educational institutions.
42 Online teacher recruitment.
Due to the increase of online courses in education, the mandarin training center launched an online learning system where students could study mandarin Chinese through the internet. The center has been promoting mandarin Chinese online courses since it was created in 2013. The center established a workplace for the MTC online program. There was a need for the language center to find appropriate online teachers who were capable to fill the online teaching positions required by the center.
The center decided to first recruit online teachers who were already working at the mandarin training center. The center informed the online teachers would receive support for the online teaching job position. This was reported in the following statement:
“It’s something that started school. Something they wanted to popularize, therefore the school recently created workplaces for the online courses. I joined that work, then the school helped me and gave me the opportunity to start teaching.” (XY-1-1-1)
Similarly another online teacher mentioned that those who joined the online course program would be prepared for this new job position. An online teacher highlighted as follows:
“Around that time, 2-3 years ago, due to the fact that our MTC online wanted to design learning materials to be added in online courses, then I also joined. In the workplace, I designed learning materials with teachers. All the teachers who joined were being prepared for the future…. it was so natural.” (XH-1-1-1)
As long as the demand of online students grew, the number of online teachers also increased.
Some of the online teachers started to teach online courses only because of other online teacher recommendations. One of the online teacher stated that another online teacher who was teaching online courses at that moment was not doing a good job, then she decided to join the online courses and had the chance to replace her. This was reported in the following statements:
“It seemed... They were interested in teachers, they needed teachers.. Then they called me to go and help, because I found out there was an online teacher who was not too appropriate that’s why it was my first class.” (MF-1-1-1)
Similarly another online teacher also suggested her work colleague to join MTC online and
43 afterwards she joined MTC online.
“The school recruited my co-worker to teach online teaching MTC online, then after she did it, she suggested me to do it, therefore I started to ask school about that type of course. By the time an opportunity came, then I wanted to be trained as an online teacher, therefore I joined the course training.” (CG-1-1-1)
Every summer the mandarin training center offers a summer camp course where foreign children who are eight to fifteen years old come to Taiwan to study mandarin Chinese while they play at the language center, they also learn and make new friends. Some online teachers started to conduct online courses because the center needed online teachers who could teach mandarin Chinese to children. The MTC online department thought that MTC summer camp teachers would be perfect for online courses. The responses were reported in the following statements:
“Due to the fact that I first taught at summer camp (this is summer camp), it consisted of foreign children who came for three to four weeks, then last year MTC was promoting online courses, then after I finished teaching that course, right away I met this student. He was a summer camp student. At that time it was mandatory…. I mean… Every summer camp teacher had to teach an online course. Then after the course finished…MTC then helped us to contact the parents in case there were parents that could pay for courses.” (QI-1-1-1)
“Because MTC online needed online children language courses teachers who had experience.
Then, due to the fact that last year I started teaching to a child from the MTC summer camp then, then they expected me to become his online mandarin Chinese teacher.” (MZ-1-1-1)
Job opportunity.
Not every teacher in the center was an online teacher because not everyone was suitable for this type of teaching. There was a time where MTC teachers who taught mandarin Chinese in the summer camp were given a job opportunity to join as an online teacher. Due to the fact that some of the online students were children who joined the summer camp, then some of those mandarin teachers were asked to join MTC online.
Some of the parents of these children heard about the online course system offered by the mandarin training center and registered so that their children could learn mandarin Chinese through the internet. The center invited and requested to some of the summer camp teachers, who
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already knew some of those children, to teach online courses. The answers of two online teachers were reported in the following statements:
“At that time it was mandatory to teach online courses, I mean... Every summer camp teacher had to teach an online course.” (QI-1-1-2)
“This type of course needed teachers and other workers at the language center told me, then I accepted to teach course.” (XH-1-1-2)
The online teaching job also came as an opportunity for some of the online teachers who were working as part-time or full time in the mandarin training center. One of the online teachers stated that this opportunity came and allowed her work from her house.
“I started to teach online course because there was an opportunity, it was not only to teach in the language center but also to work from my home...” (HA-1-1-2)
Salary opportunity.
The online job teaching position was also an opportunity for online teachers to earn extra money. Those who were online teachers also saw this new teaching job as an opportunity to make money every month. The responses of two online teachers were reported in the following statements.
“..Furthermore it is possible to be at home and earn money, therefore I wanted to try...” (QI-1-1-3)
“..Therefore I think there was another reason, which was also because it was another opportunity of earning money, it was another job opportunity…” (HA-1-1-3)
Job commitment.
The online teaching job position was also seen as an opportunity to be more committed to the teaching profession. An online teacher stated that she joined the online courses because she enjoyed teaching mandarin Chinese. The same online teacher did not pay attention to the fact that online courses are not like traditional courses and decided to join the online courses due to her commitment to her job. The following statement was mentioned by the online teacher:
“I started to teach online courses because I like to teach Chinese, I really like this teaching Chinese job…” (MZ-1-1-4)
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The findings of this study showed that online teachers who are committed with their teaching role would be willing to also try online courses.
New job experience.
The online mandarin Chinese course at the mandarin training center was considered as a chance to grow and to gain more teaching experience. Due to the fact that the mandarin training center was the only center in Taiwan who offered online courses, the online teachers who joined MTC online thought that this would be a new way to acquire experience in online course teaching. This was reported by an online teacher in the following statement:
“I think this was a new good experience, even though my age is already too old but I wanted to challenge myself and try online courses.” (RL-1-1-5)
Online Education
The growth of online education has created significant incentive for higher education institutions to develop online education programs (Volery & Lord, 2000). The mandarin training center has implemented this type of education in Taiwan because it represented an opportunity to expand mandarin courses throughout the internet. The field of education must be able to offer more instructional services through the internet in the following years (Helmi, 2002). The online mandarin courses has been considered as an important part of their job.
Online education tendency.
The mandarin Chinese language courses online courses at the mandarin training center definitely represented the latest trend in education. In the past few years, the mandarin training center has been undergoing through a transformation process that has embraced the digital age.
During the interviews, five online teachers indicated that online courses were the future of education and it must be tried in Chinese language education as well. The responses were reported in the following statements.
“I think that online education is a future trend which could be used for more for online learning programs.” (MF-1-2-1)
“Online education is a new type of trend.” (JR-1-2-1)
“I think online courses are a trend, then more people can take online courses, due to the fact
46
that there was an opportunity I wanted to try.” (QZ-1-2-1)
“This is a new teaching trend, I think it is a good option.” (RL-1-2-1)
Another online teacher also indicated that the online courses had advantages in the field of education in the following statement.
“I think online courses have advantages and it is also a new trend.” (MZ-1-2-1)
The findings showed that online teachers were aware that online education represents the future of education and it is a type of education that teachers should embrace.
Information communication technology benefit.
The online courses in the mandarin training center were considered to be as a good option for MTC online teachers. This type of technology has offered convenience to the online teachers and has been well known to do not have workplace restrictions. The following statement was highlighted by one of the online teachers.
“The advantage of the online courses is that it doesn’t matter where you are, you can work, you can take courses, therefore it is very convenient… then I think if I am at home and work, then I must say online education can become a good option to be considered.” (MF-1-2-2)
Online education opportunities.
An online teacher reported that this type of education has been growing and has been considered as a great opportunity to use it for mandarin Chinese language education. One of the online teachers stated the following statement “…right now technology is very convenient and I think that this type of learning and teaching must be tried.” (XY-1-2-3)
The above statements pointed out that online education must be used for mandarin Chinese language education due to its convenience.
Workload
The teacher has to comprehend the nature and philosophy of the distance education (Queiroz
& Mustaro, 2003). The amount of work of online teachers was different than in traditional classrooms.
47 Work convenience.
One of the online teachers who taught online mandarin courses reported that his work did not require him to be at the language center. His teaching job could be done at any place including his house. The response was reported in the following statement:
“You can be at your home teaching which is convenient, it does not look like a classroom.”
(QI-2-1-1)
Based on the experience mentioned by one of the online teachers, the online courses were found to be convenient while the traditional classrooms were not too convenient.
Time zone.
The online teachers have taught online courses to students from different countries, therefore it is known that some countries have different time zones. The online teachers have been aware that the online teaching job required them to not only know the course time in Taiwan but also their students’ time zones. This was reported by two online teachers in the following statements.
“I taught to one student who is in Hawaii, then we have a different time zone, my daytime is his nighttime, then sometimes we have to find the right time for each other.” (MF-2-1-2)
“I teach from my home, my student is also at this home, then on Sunday nights we take the courses because Australia and Taiwan have a different time zone then during the night time, midnight, we have classes.” (MZ-2-1-2)
Preparation of learning materials.
The online teachers have been in charge of designing the learning materials for their online courses. Before every online mandarin Chinese course, the online teachers had to ensure that their learning materials were available and were used during the courses. One of the online teachers reported the following statement.
“I prepare the learning materials for these two students which do not have the same level proficiency, therefore the learning materials are not the same.” (QZ-2-1-3)
Teaching Method
During online courses, the teaching is centered on the relationship between the teacher and the student (Queiroz & Mustaro, 2003). Teaching online mandarin courses has required a change
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in the educational paradigm. This new shift in mandarin Chinese language teaching has allowed online teachers to experience new teaching methods.
Different learning environment.
For teachers who taught online courses, there was a small difference between online courses and traditional courses in terms of the learning environment. One of the online teachers indicated the following statement.
“Online courses and face to face personal courses…they are not that different, I think due to the fact that online courses are via internet it makes me feel be more aware of such difference.”
(XY-2-2-1)
Different interaction.
The interaction between online teacher and students was considered to be different than the interactions done in a traditional classroom. According to the online teachers, when they have to teach online courses, they have used a different interaction method because online courses were different than traditional courses. One of the online teachers stated that in online courses the interactions were not that natural because there were some restrictions in terms of the activities.
“If our interactions were more natural, but the fact is that in online courses you can only see through a screen and then talk with the person or you can hardly do a lot activities.” (QI-2-2-2)
Similarly another online teacher also mentioned that online interactions were different than in traditional courses.
“Sometimes my facial expression cannot be seen or my movements as well, they could probably not be so clear, because my student cannot see me completely, they can see all my entire face but that’s why I need to move hand or use body language.” (RL-2-2-2)
Learner
The students of the 21st century have witnessed that technology has changed teaching and learning in schools (O’neil, 2006). The mandarin training center online teachers have been teaching mandarin Chinese to many students who have registered through the internet.
Student characteristics.
The MTC online teachers have taught mandarin Chinese to students from different countries
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and with different backgrounds. Some of the online students of these courses had the opportunity to meet their online teachers in Taiwan just before they started to teach mandarin Chinese. These students come from different countries and also have different ages. The online teachers talked about their students in the following statements.
“My first student is an American who lives in Hsinchu. Due to the fact that He always does not have time to go to mandarin Chinese class therefore he chose the online courses. His wife is a Taiwanese, then my second student is a Hongkongese, he is actually a Canadian but he is living in Hong Kong then he also came to our language center to take courses and studied for about half a year. He wanted to continue taking courses but he was busy at that time. My third student, was a summer camp student, and he also received classes in MTC. Then due to the fact that he is an ethnic Chinese child, his parents speak mandarin Chinese so his speaking is very good. I am helping him to strengthen his Chinese characters, he needs more exercises.” (HA-2-3-1)
Some of the online teachers have taught mandarin Chinese courses to children who come from different countries. Those students have different mandarin Chinese level proficiency.
“The online courses mostly involves eight to eleven years old children, there is five MTC summer camp students in my online courses.” (JR-2-3-1)
“Right now I am teaching to two students, one is a beginner level student. I met that student because he was studying at the center that’s why I knew that student. We use the language center book, therefore every time we have a class it is exciting while my other student is an American.”
(QZ-2-3-1)
“The age of the student is small, he is a child.” (QI-2-3-1)
“Most of the time I teach to beginner level students. Most of the students can’t speak mandarin Chinese or can speak a little bit of Chinese. I teach online courses to four students who are working and living in Taiwan, there is only one that is currently living abroad. Most of them are in Taiwan. Their goal is to speak Chinese while they are in Taiwan.” (CG-2-3-1)
The findings reported that many students from different countries have tried online mandarin Chinese courses. This findings are quite similar with the results of Li and Akins (2004) which