This article examines the role of the teacher in online course and materials design for language learning. It considers the skills, competencies and knowledge required by language teachers to be effective in creating and delivering online education and reflects upon how these skills have evolved as technology has developed. Teacher competencies and knowledge have altered in response to technical developments that enable greater networked sharing, collaboration and communication across the internet. This progress has facilitated a change in understanding of how education is delivered, with a move from teacher-centred to learner-centred approaches. As a result, the teacher role has become multi-faceted and includes aspects of designer, expert curator and facilitator of learning. The article reflects upon how new technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, might further impact the role of the teacher in creating and fostering an effective learning experience. It suggests that the Community of Inquiry framework (COI) and its notion of ‘teaching presence’ is a suitable way of contextualising and framing how the role of the teacher has adapted and can continue to adapt in a rapidly changing world of technology.