Teachers' Role

          The on-line teacher has to be able to work on the platform to write messages, design activities, upload materials, establish sub-groups, assign tasks, etc. activities that are generally time consuming. Some on-line courses are based on social media so the teacher needs to be familiarized with Facebook, Twitter, writing and publishing blogs, or in some cases, with the use of avatars, and virtual worlds such as Second Life [14],
There are even more mishaps that may impede upon learning: malfunctions of the platform, errors, that have to be dealt with by the institution that organizes the course and which are beyond teachersDcontrol, but also students problems with the Internet connection, software, etc. In addition, the course content may cause other problems if it is not well structured and easy to approach by the student, lacking guidelines and support.
          Therefore, learning itself has to change from personal to collaborative, in which the teacher can also play the role of learner, not only the one of provider of knowledge and expert. In addition, students are more encouraged to take learning in their hands and become responsible for their achievement and progress. The teacher and the students cooperate to achieve a common goal, and it becomes students" as well as teachers" obligation to foster a good learning environment. Students have the opportunity to learn from each other by interacting with their peers within the virtual learner's community. Blog entries, diaries, messages using social media will be means to cooperate in order to provide and obtain knowledge. The student-centered approach will facilitate T-S and S-S interaction and responsibility in the learning process.
The teacher-centered model still dominates the on-line courses as the on-line instructors, according to Bonk et al. [15] need to venture in four action areas, i.e., pedagogy, social interaction, management and technology. Therefore, the role of the on-line tutor is more difficult than the one of the traditional teacher as he/she has to excel not only as a provider of knowledge, a mentor, a mediator, but also as a specialist in management and technology.
            The traditional and modern teachers" roles have similarities inasmuch as the challenges to meet in the language teaching profession have basically remained the same. Among the main areas of concern, the following are noteworthy: the management of instructional complexity, the course