Define: readiness

For school, we answered a survey on online teaching readiness. It's something an institution can administer to teachers before they start teaching distance education or online course programs.

The questions comprise of the usual things: questions on computer usage, technological and multimedia proficiency, willingness to explore. What made this questionnaire different from others I've seen is the addition of a few simple questions that ask about the person's views on online teaching versus other traditional teaching methods, such as lecturing.

The questions are somewhat leading, "do you think that lecture is the best way to teach a person?". It almost tells you, "if you answer NO to this question, please consider another career. Online teaching is not for you."

Though obviously leading and biased, these questions, I think, are probably the most crucial parts of the survey. It's essentially asking the person - do you believe in what we are doing, or at least open to its possibility?

I like looking at school lessons as an analogy or parallel to life lessons. This simple readiness survey taught me one life lesson: in order to be considered ready, it's not enough that you know what you're doing, nor that you have the tools to do it. Being ready is opening your eyes to the possibility of an alternative to what you know, the possibility that something can be done in a different way.