Expectations, Challenges and Suggestions for Faculty Teaching Online Courses in Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec Sithole ◽  
Davison M Mupinga ◽  
Joachim S Kibirige ◽  
Fidelis Manyanga ◽  
Brian K Bucklein
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Academic Dishonesty ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
The Us

Research on online education has predominantly focused on issues related to student attraction, attrition, retention, and motivation, among others. Little attention has been paid to online instructors and yet, the quality of online education requires educators who understand the expectations of online instruction. Using an online survey, this study examined the expectations and challenges for online instructors and the suggestions for improving online instruction. Based on the data collected from seventeen faculty who teach online courses at four mid-western universities in the US, facilitation, instructor presence, and technical support stood out prominently among the expectations. The major challenges for online instructors were: large class sizes, academic dishonesty, lack of connection with students, too many emails, and lack of student self-discipline. The study recommends viable professional development for online instructors as a pre-requisite to teaching online courses.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: THE FREQUENCY AND VARIETY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO ONLINE INSTRUCTORS

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Heather Herman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
Printed Materials

Online education is no longer a peripheral phenomenon in higher education: over one-third of faculty have taught or developed an online course. As institutions of higher education expand their online education offerings, administrators need to recognize that supporting faculty through the use of incentives and through effective faculty development programs for online instruction is important to the improvement of the quality of educational programs. This quantitative study used an online survey to investigate the types and frequency of faculty development programs for online instruction at institutions with an established teaching and learning development unit (TLDU). The average TLDU offered about fifteen different types of faculty development programs, the most common being websites, technical services, printed materials, and consultation with instructional design experts.

Online Group Projects

2005 ◽  
pp. 19-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Group Projects ◽  
Online Staff Development ◽  
Online Group

This chapter provides an overview of the literature on group projects in online learning and outlines lesson modules for teaching online instructors to use group projects in their courses. The lessons themselves are structured to be an example of online staff development for distance learning faculty. While group projects are often included in on-campus classes, faculty teaching online courses are reluctant to use group projects for these classes. The technology and the students’ acceptance of the online learning environment should be used to extend the pedagogical benefits of group work. With adequate staff development, online instructors can successfully integrate group learning into online classes.

scholarly journals Facilitation strategies for enhancing the learning and engagement of online students

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Tracey Muir ◽  
◽  
Tracy Douglas ◽  
Allison Trimble ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Students ◽  
Tertiary Sector ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
The Impact

The opening up of online education in the Australian tertiary sector has made higher education accessible for a wide range of students, including those living in rural and regional areas. While student numbers continue to grow as a result of this opportunity, there are increasing concerns regarding low student retention and progression rates for online students in comparison with on-campus students. Reasons for this vary, however, online students report a sense of isolation and disconnection with their studies highlighting the need for educators to utilise effective facilitation to enhance student connections to an online community. In this paper, we investigated facilitation strategies using two case studies. This illustrated how two online instructors used design-based research to evaluate the impact of facilitation strategies on instructor presence, instructor connection, engagement and learning in maths education and human biology subjects. Findings indicate that focusing on social, managerial and technical facilitation strategies resulted in an increased instructor presence and active involvement, which in turn were influential in motivating students to engage with learning online. The findings have implications for higher education providers and instructors who are tasked with engaging online students. This identifies the importance of targeted online facilitation to enhance learner-instructor and learner-content engagement.

The Human Element MOOC

2015 ◽  
pp. 373-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney Kilgore ◽  
Patrick R. Lowenthal
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cognitive Presence ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Open Network ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Human Element ◽  
Instructor Presence

The Human Element Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the Canvas open network was designed to be a connectivist experience exploring methods for the humanization of online education. This MOOC introduced and discussed methods that faculty could adopt in order to potentially increase instructor presence, social presence, and cognitive presence within their own online courses. The design of the MOOC and the learners' perceptions of social presence after taking part in this MOOC are discussed in this chapter.

Case Study

2018 ◽  
pp. 45-68
Author(s):  
Sophia Palahicky ◽  
Adrianna Andrews-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Instruction ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Student Orientation ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
Online Orientation ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
New Students

Student orientation programs can enhance new student self-esteem, which is in turn a significant positive predictor of personal, social, and academic achievement (Hickman, Bartholomae, & McKenry, 2000). Furthermore, these programs can help students develop the basic technical skills they will need to be active learners. According to Dixson (2010), research into effective online instruction supports the argument that “online instruction can be as effective as traditional instruction, [and] to do so, online courses need cooperative/collaborative (active) learning, and strong instructor presence.” Likewise, online orientation programs for new students must provide opportunities for active engagement and strong facilitator presence to be effective. This chapter presents a case study that describes the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the online orientation modules for new students at a Canadian postsecondary institution that offers primarily blended and online programs.

Applying the ADDIE Model to Online Instruction

2008 ◽  
pp. 41-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaye Shelton ◽  
George Saltsman
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Tips And Tricks ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Online Class ◽  
Addie Model

This paper assembles best ideas and practices from successful online instructors and recent literature. Suggestions include strategies for online class design, syllabus development, and online class facilitation, which provide successful tips for both new and experienced online instructors. This article incorporates additional ideas, tips, and tricks gathered since the paper was originally published in the October 2004 issues of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning as Tips and Tricks for Teaching Online: How to Teach Like a Pro!

The Human Element MOOC

2016 ◽  
pp. 1736-1755
Author(s):  
Whitney Kilgore ◽  
Patrick R. Lowenthal
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cognitive Presence ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Open Network ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Human Element ◽  
Instructor Presence

The Human Element Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the Canvas open network was designed to be a connectivist experience exploring methods for the humanization of online education. This MOOC introduced and discussed methods that faculty could adopt in order to potentially increase instructor presence, social presence, and cognitive presence within their own online courses. The design of the MOOC and the learners' perceptions of social presence after taking part in this MOOC are discussed in this chapter.

scholarly journals ROLES OF FACULTY IN TEACHING ASYNCHRONOUS UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Libby V. Morris ◽  
Haixia Xu ◽  
Catherine L. Finnegan
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Faculty Roles ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Asynchronous Courses ◽  
Novice Instructors ◽  
The Relationship

Although the availability of web-based education and the number of totally asynchronous courses have grown exponentially in the last decade, the literature on online instruction offers limited empirical guidance to faculty teaching in this environment. Much of the literature is anecdotal and prescriptive, and much more research needs to be done to situate research in practice settings. This study examines faculty roles in the online environment through the perceptions of faculty teaching online and through the archival analysis of their courses. Data were collected through document analysis of ten online courses and from interviews with thirteen instructors in the humanities and social sciences. Using Berge’s typology of online facilitator roles, this study examined the relationship between roles as perceived and enacted by faculty, identified wide variations in faculty roles and participation between experienced and novice instructors, and explored the relationship between faculty workload and perception of facilitation in the online environment. Directions for future research are suggested.

scholarly journals THE ILLINOIS ONLINE NETWORK IS MAKING THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM A REALITY: STUDY OF AN EXEMPLARY FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virgil E. Varvel ◽  
Michael Lindeman ◽  
Iris K. Stovall
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Faculty Development Program ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Online Format ◽  
The University

The Illinois Online Network (ION) is a faculty development partnership between all forty-eight community colleges in the state of Illinois and the University of Illinois. The goals of the ION program are to help faculty to develop and deliver courses in a completely online format, and also to produce online courses that incorporate best practices for engaging students in discussion and critical thinking. ION accomplishes its goals with a variety of programs, such as the Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality series of online faculty development courses. Evaluation surveys indicate that ION activities have had an impact on the satisfaction and confidence of faculty teaching online courses. This paper examines the programs and resources that ION provides, the effectiveness of the program as a whole, and the lessons ION has learned about providing a large-scale faculty development program.

scholarly journals Faculty Perception toward Online Education in a State College in the Philippines during the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rome B. Moralista ◽  
Ryan Michael Flores Oducado
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Academic Dishonesty ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Academic Rank ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
State College ◽  
Research Findings

This research determined the perception toward online education among faculty in a State College in the Philippines. This study used a descriptive online survey involving a sample of 27 faculty members. Statistical tools employed were descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Research findings indicated that the majority of faculty had intermediate computer competency and had no training in online teaching with only a few having a very stable internet connection. Faculty considered that online education will result to more academic dishonesty, will be impersonal and lack feeling compared to face-to-face classes, and will be difficult to manage in terms of technology. Additionally, faculty were undecided if they are in favor of online education. The faculty significantly differed whether they are in favor of online education based on age, sex, college, educational attainment, years in teaching, academic rank, level taught and employment status. Faculty of Higher Education Institutions must be provided with continued support and training as they adapt into the new normal in the higher education landscape and as they embrace the instructional challenges brought by the Coronavirus disease 19 pandemic.

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