Professional development in the transition to online teaching: The voice of entrant online instructors

ReCALL ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Müge Adnan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Online Faculty Development ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Traditional Roles

AbstractProfessional development (PD) is critical for instructors who are adopting new roles and competencies in online teaching environments. This mixed-method study examines an online faculty development programme in Turkey, reflecting upon participants’ expectations, readiness and satisfaction. The findings indicate a significant relationship between individual readiness and satisfaction, and reveal that readiness positively predicts satisfaction. Participants’ reflections demonstrate that, to enhance their traditional roles, they need competencies for online learning environments and active practice in real-life applications. PD is important for introducing the new pedagogies required and for integration of technology, while the adoption of new roles is key to developing competent online instructors who have a positive attitude to online learning.

scholarly journals The role of online faculty in supporting successful online learning enterprises: A literature review

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J Dhilla
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Online Instructors

This review examines research regarding instructors’ perceptions of the online teaching experience and explores ways in which university administrators can better support online faculty as their institutional online learning enterprises grow. The following sections examine how the growth in online education has led to increased interest in the experiences of online faculty. An examination of these issues illuminates many of the unacknowledged external factors that have a subtle, but strong influence on online instructors and their experiences in the virtual learning environment.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Professional Development in Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Online Instruction in a College of Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jered Borup ◽  
Anna Evmenova
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Digital Badges ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
K 12

The growth of online learning has placed a strain on K-12 schools and universities to provide students with qualified instructors. It is especially important that colleges of education provide their pre- and in-service teachers with skilled online instructors so they can experience quality online instruction first-hand as students. This case study examined the effectiveness of a 6- to 7-week professional development course designed to improve faculty members’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions required to teach online effectively in a college of education. Faculty participants were also given the opportunity to earn up to seven digital badges for demonstrating specific skills during the course. Analysis of 18 faculty interviews, surveys, and discussion board comments found that course content and assignments improved faculty members’ knowledge and skills, but the ways the course was delivered and the online teaching methods modeled by the course instructor appeared to have a larger impact on perceptions and attitudes towards online learning. As a result, online teaching professional development may have its greatest impact when it models the types of online courses the college would like faculty to actually design and facilitate. Faculty also appeared to be more motivated to earn digital badges than they had originally anticipated but were confused what to do with the badges once they were earned.

scholarly journals Instructors’ Readiness to Teach Online: A Review of TPACK Standards in Online Professional Development Programmes in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 135-150
Author(s):  
Amjaad Mujallid
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Training ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Materials Used

Online learning has been developed in higher education offering a flexible environment for learners. Faculty knowledge is among the most important domains required to be updated in order to ensure a successful integration of instructional technology and online learning in higher education. This update can be performed by providing faculty training on how to use technology. However, this should be integrated with pedagogical knowledge, which is represented in the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework (TPACK). This paper reviewed the literature to find how higher education institutions support online instructors with professional development programmes and, moreover, to discover how these programmes are shaped by the TPACK framework. The paper also summarises the effective online teaching practices based on the TPACK framework presented in the literature. Teaching online is a challenge and does not mean having to move traditional instructions and activities into the online platform, but this does mean a shift might require building a whole new material to ensure the quality of online teaching and learning. Reviewing the previous literature regarding the available professional development programmes increases the need to integrate online teaching competence as a main objective into teacher education and professional development programmes to follow up with the skills of the 21st century students. The framework includes three main domains of teachers’ knowledge: Content (CK), which is related to the subject matter and answers the question “what will be taught?” such as concepts, theories and terms; Pedagogy (PK), which refers to teaching strategies required for addressing the students’ learning needs; and Technology (TK), which refers to the variety of technologies and instructional materials used, such as learning management systems.

Toward an Understanding of What Works in Professional Development for Online Instructors: The Case of PBS Teacherline

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara C. Storandt ◽  
Lia C. Dossin ◽  
Anna Piacentini Lacher
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Faculty Professional Development ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learner Outcomes ◽  
Professional Development Model ◽  
Course Experience ◽  
Instructor Satisfaction

Research conducted in various settings suggests that preparation and support for online instructors should be considered separately from efforts to prepare face-to-face instructors. However, very few studies outline the ways in which preparation to teach online should differ, and only a handful link these practices to measurable outcomes that help define what is meant by effective. PBS TeacherLine’s professional development model presents an opportunity to examine a comprehensive, well-established effort that has undergone regular refinements over the past 11 years. Results from the yearlong study presented in this paper showed that PBS TeacherLine’s professional development model contributes positively to instructor satisfaction, retention, high quality online instruction, increased instructor reflection, and learner outcomes such as an overall positive course experience. These findings reveal promising best practices for online faculty professional development that are specific to the online environment.

scholarly journals Developing Teaching Presence in Online Learning Through Shared Stakeholder Responsibility

2017 ◽  
pp. 151-177
Author(s):  
Carol Johnson ◽  
Noha Altowairiki
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Teaching Presence ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Community Of Inquiry Framework

Transitioning from a face-to-face teaching environment to online teaching requires a shift in paradigm by stakeholders involved (i.e., instructors and students). This chapter provides an extensive literature review to help novice online instructors understand the nature of online teaching presence to help position their students towards more active participation. Premised on the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) and constructivism, we highlight a conceptual framework of four iterative processes for developing online teaching presence: preparations for facilitation, designing the facilitation, implementing the facilitation, and assessing the facilitation. Based on this framework, strategies are articulated for overcoming the challenges of online learning through shared stakeholder responsibility.

scholarly journals Examining Higher Education Instructor Perceptions of Roles and Competencies in Online Teaching

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Martin ◽  
Swapna Kumar ◽  
Liane She
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Lifelong Learner ◽  
Online Instructor

Online instructors adopt various roles and perform various competencies in the design and delivery of online courses. In this study, online instructor roles are categorized into eight types including Subject Matter Expert, Course Designer and Developer, Course Facilitator, Course Manager, Advisor/Mentor, Assessor/Evaluator, Technology Expert, and Lifelong Learner. Through survey-based research with 141 online instructors, this study examines competencies that online instructors perform based on various roles. When rating competencies, overall categorical means for all the roles were rated above 4.00, which showed that they used all these roles. The highest rated items and lowest rated items are discussed in addition to the connection between research and practice in online teaching. Online instructors who participate in training and who collaborate with instructional designers rated the frequency with which they perform the competencies to be higher. This study has implications for online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators who design and deliver online learning and offer professional development for online instructors.

Communication and Collaboration Strategies for an Effective Online Professor

2018 ◽  
pp. 302-316
Author(s):  
Heather Miller ◽  
Tom Cavanagh ◽  
Annissa Furr
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds

Online classes in higher education bring unique challenges to faculty. This chapter identifies best practices for effectively communicating and collaborating with students online. The information presented was gained via “crowd science” qualitative methodology, in which online faculty responded via email and a blog post requesting best practices for effectively communicating and collaborating with peers and students online. Faculty were from diverse backgrounds and teaching experiences. Data are presented in concert with recent research in the field of effective online learning and communication with students. The current literature in tandem with the data provides an effective collection of practices to provide online instructors with a guide to successfully facilitate online classes.

Communication and Collaboration Strategies for an Effective Online Professor

2014 ◽  
pp. 388-401
Author(s):  
Heather Miller ◽  
Tom Cavanagh ◽  
Annissa Furr
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds

Online classes in higher education bring unique challenges to faculty. This chapter identifies best practices for effectively communicating and collaborating with students online. The information presented was gained via “crowd science” qualitative methodology, in which online faculty responded via email and a blog post requesting best practices for effectively communicating and collaborating with peers and students online. Faculty were from diverse backgrounds and teaching experiences. Data are presented in concert with recent research in the field of effective online learning and communication with students. The current literature in tandem with the data provides an effective collection of practices to provide online instructors with a guide to successfully facilitate online classes.

scholarly journals Instructors’ Perceptions of Instructor Presence in Online Learning Environments

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Richardson ◽  
Erin Besser ◽  
Adrie Koehler ◽  
JiEun Lim ◽  
Marquetta Strait
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Master's Program ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
Multiple Case

<p class="2">As online learning continues to grow significantly, various efforts have been explored and implemented in order to improve the instructional experiences of students.  Specifically, research indicates that how an instructor establishes his or her presence in an online environment can have important implications for the students’ overall learning experience. While instructor presence appears to be an important aspect of online learning, more research is needed to fully understand this construct. The purpose of this study was to consider online instructors’ perceptions related to presence, beliefs about actions, and the perceived impact of instructional presence. Using an explanatory multiple-case study approach, this research considered the perspectives of 13 instructors teaching in an online master’s program at a large Midwestern public university.  Results indicate instructors viewed instructor presence as an important component in online courses but their reasons varied. Furthermore, the instructors discussed a number of communication strategies they used, the importance of using such strategies to connect to students, and the potential impact of these strategies on student participation and learning. Additional themes from the interview data are discussed, and implications for online teaching and learning are suggested.</p>

scholarly journals Award-Winning Faculty Online Teaching Practices: Roles and Competencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Martin ◽  
Kiran Budhrani ◽  
Swapna Kumar ◽  
Albert Ritzhaupt
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
The United States ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Critical Competencies

Given the explosive growth of online learning in institutions of higher education, we are in dire need of guidelines for instructing new and continuing online instructors on how best to teach in online spaces.  The purpose of this study was to identify the roles of the online instructor and categorize critical competencies for online teaching based on a review of research, and the perspectives of award-winning online faculty. We interviewed eight award-winning online faculty members from across the United States. Based on interviews, it was found that online instructors were assuming five different roles: Facilitator, Course Designer, Course Delivery, Subject Matter Expert, and Mentor.  Participants’ common tasks when designing and teaching an online course fell in two areas, either Course Design or Teaching. This research has clear implications not only for the literature research base, but for our institutions as well as we continue to offer increasing numbers of effective online courses and programs to our students.

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