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.

scholarly journals Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Swapna Kumar ◽  
Florence Martin ◽  
Kiran Budhrani ◽  
Albert Ritzhaupt
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Teaching Awards ◽  
Using Data

The purpose of this study was to explore award-winning instructors’ insights on elements of their course design that were “award-winning” and the differences between expert and novice online instructors. Interviews were conducted with eight award-winning online faculty members from across the United States who had received online teaching awards from one of three professional associations. The five main areas that emerged from the data analysis were, a) authentic and relevant course materials that connect to practice, b) the use of multimedia resources c) student creation of digital content individually and collaboratively d) students’ reflection on learning and e) the instructor’s explanation of the purpose of activities, technologies and assessments in the online course. Additionally, award-winning faculty emphasized the importance of using data and evaluation practices and reflecting on course offerings in the development of an excellent online course. Award-wining faculty described expert online instructors as being experienced and comfortable in the online environment, using a wide range of strategies, being willing to learn, using data and analytics, and engaged in continuous improvement. The findings add to the literature on best practices and what constitutes excellence in online courses.

The Identification of Competencies for Online Teaching Success

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Mae Bigatel ◽  
Lawrence C. Ragan ◽  
Shannon Kennan ◽  
Janet May ◽  
Brian F. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Teaching Behaviors ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Teaching Tasks ◽  
Teaching Success ◽  
Critical Competencies ◽  
Level Of Importance

This exploratory study examined teaching behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs (referred to as tasks) that reflect potential competencies for online teaching success. In this study, teaching tasks are those tasks performed during course delivery. Based on faculty interviews and a review of relevant research, 64 teaching tasks were identified and included in 7-point Likert scale survey instrument. It was distributed to experienced online faculty and staff asking them to rate the level of importance of a list of teaching tasks and resulted in a sample of 197 responses. Of interest was the fact that over half of the teaching tasks had a rating of 6.0 on the 7-point scale and more than half of the tasks that were rated 6.0 or higher did not load into categories using factor analysis. Further examination of the results is required to determine why highly rated teaching tasks did not fall (load onto) into any factor. Results of the importance of the tasks will form the basis of faculty development efforts aimed at providing faculty with professional development in critical competencies to ensure online teaching success.

scholarly journals Experiencing the shift: How postsecondary contract and continuing faculty moved to online course delivery

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Patricia Danyluk ◽  
Amy Burns
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Faculty Position ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Additional Work

The shift to online learning that occurred in March of 2020, created an unprecedented period of intense work for faculty and sessional instructors at the post-secondary level. This shift necessitated courses be adapted under short timelines, new technology be integrated into course design and teaching strategies and assessment methods be adapted for an online environment (Van Nuland et al., 2020). This study examines how sessional instructors, referred to in this chapter as contract faculty, and continuing full-time faculty members delivering the same online courses experienced this shift. While the demands of a continuing faculty position call for balancing of teaching, research and service responsibilities, contract instructors have their own unique stressors (Karram Stephenson et al., 2020). Contract faculty lack job security, are paid by the course and often receive their teaching assignments with short notice. By examining their perspectives on delivering the same courses online, we learn that the shift to online teaching resulted in additional work in order to adapt courses to the online environment, with faculty describing the challenges of balancing the additional work with other responsibilities of their position. Concerns of participants focused on a perceived inability to develop relationships with students in an online environment.

scholarly journals Zones of Agency: Understanding Online Faculty Experiences of Presence

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
Anita Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public University ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Experience Teaching ◽  
Course Syllabi

As instructors are forced to move their courses online, they are confronted by a sense of isolation and distance from their learners. Research has shown that feelings of loneliness are mitigated when presence is created in the online environment. An interpretive phenomenological analysis was conducted at a public university in the United States to answer the question: What are the determinants of presence for instructors in online teaching? Twenty-five online instructors from various disciplines, with diverse levels of experience teaching online, were recruited for the study. Interviews, analysis of course syllabi, and observations of course sites revealed five determinants of presence for online instructors: content, format, strategies, technology, and students. The crucial factor in deciding an instructor’s experience of presence was the degree of agency instructors had over these determinants. This paper introduces the Zones of Agency for Online Instructors model and describes how the model can be used to enhance instructors’ experiences of presence.

scholarly journals Course management strategies for first time online instructors

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Regina Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Student Feedback ◽  
Course Management ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Teacher Presence

The presentation examines the practice of teacher presence from students’ perspectives.  It is based upon a comparison of student feedback from the first and second fully online deliveries of a required course entitled, Education Law.  While a review of the literature reveals that teacher presence is created through degrees of active engagement, instructors new to online teaching may misinterpret learners’ perceptions of what constitutes an acceptable degree of presence. Student feedback, from the first delivery, suggested the expectation for teacher presence was higher because the course design featured a number of collaborative, project based learning activities. Instructional planning that gives balanced attention to content mastery and course management by reframing the functions of the instructor’s role will assure that learners’ enthusiasm and engagement are not casualties of the context. A review of the course evaluations from the Summer 2015 semester revealed that an intentional contemplation of communication variables including timing, interpersonal and inter-group messaging must be purposefully planned to minimize the potential for confusion.  This suggests changes for the Summer 2016 semester, including the use of proactive course management strategies to increase student satisfaction, facilitate the display of metacognition, and extend creative problem solving skills to authentic applications.  Faculty will learn about how the initiation of these changes in course management impact students’ perceptions of teacher presence.

scholarly journals Switching Gears

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Claudia Moessenlechner ◽  
Regina Obexer ◽  
Maria Pammer ◽  
Julia Waldegger
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Online Assessment ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Training And Support

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic turned into an urgent priority for higher education institutions in that they had to move to remote teaching within a matter of weeks. This paper presents the results of a quantitative survey looking at the challenges university faculty were facing when moving their course(s) online during the first semester of the COVID-19 crisis.The survey looks specifically at course design and formats used in online teaching during the crisis and compares differences occurring between disciplines (STEM and management education). The outcomes overall mirror a sense of achievement due to the successful delivery of online courses with little preparation. Difficulties lecturers identified were related to promoting student interaction and engagement, technical issues, the effort required to plan and prepare online learning materials, and challenges with regard to online assessment. Having access to training and support in various forms was highlighted as an important success factor.

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.

scholarly journals Faculty development needs assessment for online teaching

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 5063
Author(s):  
Ayman Z. Elsamanoudy ◽  
Rasha Abou-Kamer ◽  
Fatma M. Ghoneim ◽  
Sherif El-Saadany ◽  
Mona A. Soliman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Software Tools ◽  
Response Scale ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Almost All

Background: Academic staff members, who are responsible for teaching and training, should be aware of the principle of online course design, development, and implementation. The aim of this study is to evaluate instructors’ skills and needs for conducting distance learning healthcare courses, including the level of assistance they need to implement and use online and software tools in online courses.Methods: The current study applied online faculty survey used by the Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South Carolina to assess the faculty’s instructional technology needs for training and support. The survey asked faculty staff about a broad number of classroom and online technologies, with a helpful response scale that reveals not only what the faculty is already using, but also what the instructors want to use and what they need help with.Results: The results of this study revealed a significant need of faculty staff members for the training and development of their skills in almost all tools used for conducting online courses. The female responder was higher than males. Regarding the use of software, although the majority of participating staff members in this study use almost all software tools required for conducting online healthcare courses, they expressed a need for help in developing new ideas to use the software effectively.Conclusions: From this study, it could be concluded that it is essential to organize comprehensive faculty development training courses for staff members to help them in conducting their online courses or converting their face-to-face courses to blended courses effectively.

scholarly journals BRIDGES AND BARRIERS TO TEACHING ONLINE COLLEGE COURSES: A STUDY OF EXPERIENCED ONLINE FACULTY IN THIRTY- SIX COLLEGES

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shea
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Online Faculty ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Barriers To Teaching

This paper reports on initial findings from a research study of factors that enable and constrain faculty participation in online teaching and learning environments. It is noted that demand for higher education continues to grow in the United States. It is argued that the nature of the higher education student population will likely continue to transform towards a non-traditional profile. These two trends drive an increased demand for alternative routes to a college degree and have fueled dramatic growth in online learning recently. The study identifies faculty acceptance of online teaching as a critical component for future growth to meet this demand and ensure quality. Through analysis of data from 386 faculty teaching online in 36 colleges in a large state university system, the most significant factors that support and undermine motivation to teach online are identified. The top motivator is a more flexible work schedule. The top demotivator is inadequate compensation for perceived greater work than for traditionally delivered courses, especially for online course development, revision, and teaching. However, respondents in this study chose to teach online for a wide variety of reasons many of which were associated with demographic and contextual differences. These distinctions are reviewed in light of their implications for future quality of online education. Additionally, through factor analysis, underlyingconstructs for online faculty motivations are identified. Finally, recommendations are made for policy, practice, faculty development and future research.

scholarly journals The H.E.R.O.s of Online Education: What makes students succeed despite the odds?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmaine Bissessar ◽  
Debra Black ◽  
Mehraz Boolaky
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Online Instructors

The study of psychological capital (PsyCap) is prevalent in organizations globally and is part of the movement towards attaining positive organizational behavior. This concept is slowly being transferred to the education realm with teachers becoming more mindful of students’ inner H. E. R. O. (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism). Little research, however, has been conducted upon the PsyCap of university students in fully online programs. The purpose of this study was to determine what aspects of students’ psychological capital lead to success despite adversity. An exploratory qualitative methodology was used to interview five participants from the United States, Canada, Africa, France, and Serbia in order to determine whether or not PsyCap influenced their drive to complete their online graduate programs of study at the University of Liverpool. This convenience sample yielded compelling results for future research and indicated similarities in hope and efficacy as well as differences in gender regarding participant resilience and approach to challenges. Further research is needed to determine whether gender does play a critical role in online students’ PsyCap, especially resilience. Another revealing result was that the participants credited their online instructors for motivating and discouraging them based on their feedback, grading, and overall communication. This points to a possible relationship between the students’ PsyCap and the three online teaching presences in communities of inquiry (cognitive, teaching, and social).

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