A teacher is not only a lecturer but a facilitator of information exchange among students. As a facilitator, my job is to provide a framework and tools for students to understand the knowledge they seek, and these must be sufficient to accommodate the diverse needs of varying personalities. In my courses, I utilize teaching aids such as lecture outlines, worksheets, handouts, activities, and assignments to complement lectures. Teaching is primarily about learning, and so to maximize my teaching potential, I focus on the learning needs of the future. In essence, learning is less a procedure than a loose process that occurs in an unstructured and ad-hoc way. However, learning can be built into structures by forging new connections between known concepts, adding new strategies, and linking new concepts to old ones. Through this process, learning expands and our collective body of knowledge grows.

I have taught several classes in the field of information systems and computer science, and so far feedback from students has been quite positive. I truly believe that students will shape the future and therefore they should not only be given the appropriate tools to succeed but also appropriate knowledge to apply those tools to deal with real life situations. Thus, rather than simply failing my students if they proved unable to understand a concept or topic covered in the course, I offered an extra credit to see if, with a little extra help, they could understand the topic. Further, I do not see tests as something to pass or fail but rather as an indication and feedback tool for me to change, if necessary, the way a particular topic was presented. To facilitate this ever-changing free flow of information, I make myself available to my students in order to answer any questions they may have, even if the question arises outside my normal office hours.

I believe that, as an instructor, I should provide students with the tools, methods and information to integrate these methods into a true business case. I continually demonstrate how different methods can be used throughout their life, including during employment. As many recent developments do not yet appear in textbooks, I recommend that my students also read trade magazines, newspapers, and online journals. In this way, every student can see how the information we are discussing in class can be applied to the real world.

I have made several observations with regards to being both a student and a teacher. I have found that most teachers are more interested in carrying out research than teaching and that many students require more attention than many professors are willing to give. However, students need to be motivated and encouraged to carry out their work, otherwise many will just do the bare minimum required of them. And while I have found that developing courses does require a lot of work, I can use the information I gather while carrying out my research to augment other aspects of my work. When taking over a course from another instructor, I do not simply want to copy the work that has already been done but to add a new dimension or aspect to the course to make it even more useful. Essentially, I use the basic guidelines that are provided to me and then develop my own topics and present them in my own way. Feedback from my students and colleagues further enhances my teaching skills as well as directs the course material. By being a facilitator of the learning process rather than just a provider of information, I actively bridge the gap between teacher and learner.