a blended online approach for faculty development in online teaching
DESCRIPTION
Sloan-C 2009TRANSCRIPT
A Blended Online Approach for Faculty Development in Online Teaching
Feng Wang, Ph.D.Director of Distance Education
Sloan-C Conference 2009
Newburgh, New York
Mount Saint Mary College• Liberal-arts college, with about 2,600 enrollments • Graduate programs in Education, Nursing, & Business• Mid-Hudson River Area, New York• 150 online courses each year• First blended online program in 2010
New PolicyRequired Training for Teaching Online
Courses:1.a two-hour Moodle training workshop 2.a two-hour Elluminate workshop 3.a four-week-long, non-credit, blended-online
professional development course
Incentives• Significantly higher pay scale
for teaching online courses• $100 stipend• Multiple free materials,
useful tips, and principles for online teaching
• Consultation support from the Distance Ed. staff
Exemptions
• Instructors who provide convincing evidence of equivalent training
• Temporary exemptions granted by the V.P. for Academic Affairs
The Professional Development Course: “Teaching and Learning Online”
• Intensive training over 4+ weeks• Blended online (f2f, synchronous
online, & asynchronous online)• Highly practical—Aimed to help
faculty (re)design and teach their online courses
• Peer review & feedback
Course Prerequisites
• Introductory training to Moodle & Elluminate • Information Literacy• Willingness to change the course design & pedagogy
Course Textbooks
• Smith, R. M. (2008). Conquering the content: A step-by-step guide to online course design. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Finkelstein, J. (2006). Learning in real time: Synchronous teaching and learning online. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Course Requirements
• Synchronous Class Meetings• Readings• Discussion Forum Participation• Course Design & Dev. Project• Course Delivery
Grading Criteria
• I = Incomplete• S = Satisfactory• U = Unsatisfactory• Final grade unavailable
until course delivery is evaluated
Topics of the Course
• Introduction to online learning• Instructional design & development • Interactions in online learning• Assessments • Course content development &
maintenance
Learning Activities Assignments1. Introduction Course overview Introduction to online learning
Reading discussion Autobiography Draft syllabus
2. Instructional Design & Dev. The process of systematic
instructional design Development of a course outline
Reading discussion Course overview, goals, and
outline
3. Interactions Synchronous online learning Design of discussion forums Collaborative activities
Reading discussion Discussion forum questions Collaborative activities One module of your course
4. Assessments Assessment development Final presentation preparation
Reading discussion Assessments Final presentation prep
5. Final Presentations & Content Dev. Course content development and
maintenance Final presentations
Final reflection Peer feedback on courses Anonymous course
evaluation
Effectiveness of the Training Course
• Significant improvement in course quality
• Positive feedback on this training course in general
• Sample Course (developed by a participant)
Issues and Challenges
• Workload complains• Compensation/Incentives• Resistance from the faculty• Adjuncts vs. full-time faculty• Technology & education
readiness
Future Directions• Training courses of different levels• More individual staff support• Professional learning community• Adaptations as new online courses
are pre-developed
Questions