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 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.

Taking a Hard Look at the Soft Skills of Online Course Design and Online Teaching in Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 158-181
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Gosselin ◽  
Maria Northcote ◽  
Kristi D. Wuensche ◽  
Trudy Stoddard
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Online Educators

Over the past few decades, substantial growth has occurred in online education in general, and this has been particularly true of the higher education sector. Most universities and post-secondary institutions now offer students the opportunity to enroll in online pre-tertiary, vocational, undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses. While some of these courses are successful for the learners who enroll in them, others have been found somewhat deficient, often criticized for their lack of humanization, interaction, communication and online presence. This chapter examines the role of the so-called soft skills of online course design and online teaching that are seen as vital for online educators who are responsible for the facilitation of high quality online learning. Along with a review of relevant literature about the soft skills of online teaching, the chapter presents three institutional case studies from which a set of practically-focused recommendations for promoting the design of humanized online learning environments has been developed.

Education Faculty Lived Experiences of Student Interaction and Engagement in Online Courses

2021 ◽  
pp. 60-83
Author(s):  
Nikleia Eteokleous ◽  
Rita Panaoura
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Education Faculty ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning

In this chapter, the two authors co-construct meaning of their individual lived experiences as education faculty engaging in online teaching and learning. It highlights each faculty unique experiences facilitating graduate student learning in an online environment. Co-construction of meaning centers on pedagogical approaches, program design and focus, reflection of faculty-self experiences, employment of digital learning tools, and utilization of best practices of each faculty experience with teaching and learning in an online environment. This narrative is co-constructed following a collaborative autoethnographic approach by two faculty, whereby the central descriptions of each faculty member is situated in one's lived experiences and rich story of facilitating and instructing courses in an online learning environment. The faculty experiences are mainly derived from teaching graduate courses offered by a department of education. The research method in presenting two self-reflective narratives in online teaching and learning extends to doing “collaborative autoethnography.”

Facilitation of Online Teaching and Learning

2010 ◽  
pp. 626-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Lang
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Course Work ◽  
Full Time Employment

Twenty First Century Education is undergoing change not only to keep in step with the emerging technological innovations, but also to address the needs and meet the high expectations of a technically sophisticated student body. Physical manifestations of these changes may be seen in new institutional building work. Technologically, the Facebook Generation of students in our universities expect online access across the campus, not only to all manner of information and social networks, but to their course work. A growing body of the student population now remain in full time employment, enrolled via online courses. Their virtual access to teaching and learning requires a different form of tuition to that generally experienced in face to face lectures. Online teaching and learning is a facilitated process, which this chapter seeks to explain. The role of the facilitator is explained, along with the process of online learning, with reference to an established online degree course, Ultraversity.

scholarly journals FACULTY SELF-STUDY RESEARCH PROJECT: EXAMINING THE ONLINE WORKLOAD

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melody M. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Faculty Workload ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Self Study ◽  
Penn State ◽  
Productive Time

Concerns about faculty workload in the online environment are a reported deterrent to participation in online teaching. To date, such concerns have been based primarily on anecdotal evidence rather than empirical research. This paper describes a project in which six faculty members teaching courses through the Penn State World Campus conducted studies of the comparative workload in the online environment. Results of the studies indicated that faculty workload for teaching these online courses, as measured by time on task, was comparable to or somewhat less than that for face-to-face courses. However, a differential “chunking” of productive time contributed in some cases to a perception of increased workload. The success of the project suggests it is a replicable model for investigating various elements of the faculty experience in the online environment.

scholarly journals Introducing a Late Bank in Online Graduate Courses: The Response of Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meadow Schroeder ◽  
Erica Makarenko ◽  
Karly Warren
Keyword(s):  
Time Management ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Stressful Situation ◽  
Due Dates ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Bank System

In post-secondary education, students must demonstrate strong time-management skills while they navigate several courses in a semester. When students struggle to meet due dates, they can accrue late penalties, which exacerbates a stressful situation. In response, two graduate programs integrated a late bank system into their online courses. Students could submit one of two assignments up to five days after the due date without penalty. After each assignment was due, a survey was used to measure students’ levels of stress, the perception of the late bank, and reasons for using it. This study found the late bank was utilized by students, was positively regarded, and improved student attitudes toward their instructor. Reported levels of stress were similar for students who used the late bank compared to those did not. The results suggest that incorporating a late bank into the course design is an effective method of promoting student well-being.

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 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.

Assuring Quality in Online Course Delivery

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Matuga ◽  
Deborah Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Cultural Issue

This paper examines the critical issue of assuring quality online course delivery by examining four key components of online teaching and learning. The topic of course delivery is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to its evaluation. First, the authors examine and review key components of and tools for designing high impact online courses that support student learning. Second, in this paper, the authors provide suggestions for faculty teaching online courses to assist in creating high quality online courses that supports teaching and, consequently, facilitates opportunities for student learning. Quality online course delivery is also contingent on the support of faculty by administration. Lastly, this paper provides suggestions for conducting course evaluation and feedback loops for the continual improvement of online learning and teaching. These four components are essential elements in assuring quality online courses.

scholarly journals Design and Implementation of Multidimensional Interaction in Online English Course under the Assistance of Omnimedia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Ming Cao
Keyword(s):  
Class Number ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Offline Learning ◽  
Teaching Concept ◽  
Network Platform

The method of multidimensional interaction in online teaching and learning requires teachers to harness the techniques of omnimedia and have an overall course design to achieve similar results as offline learning. Supported by QQ, Lanmo Cloud Class, and WeChat platforms, online English courses implement multidimensional interaction method to enhance language communication. This method compensates for the inefficacy of online teaching and learning which falls short of face-to-face interaction and considers the needs of students. The quasiexperimental study sampled 66 freshmen English major students in an ordinary college via Integrated English Online Course for three months. By using T-test of SPSS 26.0, statistics showed that there were significant differences between the experimental class (Number 35) and the control class (Number 31) in students’ feedback ( p = 0.044 , < 0.05 ) and the results of their final examinations ( p = 0.049 , < 0.05 ). The results indicated that multidimensional interaction in online English course under the assistance of omnimedia appeared effective. It also reflected that both teachers and students should grasp the skills of using new technology and make good use of omnimedia network platform. Teachers need to change traditional teaching concept to student-centered and create effective teaching design while students need to overcome the discomfort and actively engage in online learning to achieve the goals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document