MarylandOnline’s COAT Online Adjunct Faculty Training Project Outcomes: Expect the Unexpected Bobbi Dubins, Julie Shattuck, Diana Zilberman
MarylandOnline’s COAT Online Adjunct Faculty Training Project
Outcomes:Expect the Unexpected
Bobbi Dubins, Julie Shattuck, Diana Zilberman
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http://www.marylandonline.org/coat
Copyright 2011 MarylandOnline
For more information
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Who Are We?
MarylandOnline is a consortium of community
colleges and senior institutions in the state of
Maryland. The organization was
founded to promote and support the distance
learning communities of its member colleges.
www.marylandonline.org
COAT Project Team
Bobbi DubinsCOAT Project Director
Julie ShattuckCOAT Research Coordinator
Diana Zilberman COAT Instructor
Carole RedlineCOAT Course Instructor
Deborah TurnerCOAT Course Technical Support
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Presentation Outline
Copyright 2011 MarylandOnline
2008-2009: Research & Adjunct Faculty
Focus 2010-2011: Expected
and Unexpected Outcomes
2009-2010: Course
Design, Pilot, &
Evaluation
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Phase 1: Research(2008-2009)
• Training needs of MD higher education institutions
• Level of interest in possible shared training for online instructors
• Online teaching competencies (literature review)
• Existing online teaching courses
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COAT: Phase 1 Course Recommendations
• Delivered fully online• 9-week, cohort, paced training with
assessments• Modularized – reusable across LMS• Focus on teaching online, not course
design
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Who is the Course Designed For? Why?
Adjunct faculty with:• Experience teaching f2f in higher education• Basic technical navigational LMS skills & basic computer skills
Why adjuncts?• Portable training to multiple institutions• Asynchronous training for access• Pool of trained adjuncts for administrators
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Want More Details?
• Go to the COAT website, Project History section: http://www.marylandonline.org/coat/history.htm
• Chat with us later• See research results from phase 1:
– Dubins, B. H., & Graham, M. B. (2009). Training instructors to teach online: Research on competencies/best practices. Paper presented at the 25th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Madison, WI. http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/09_20433.pdf
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Phase 2: Design, Pilot, & Evaluate
Collaborative, team
approach
Inter-Institutional
Diverse members,
skill sets, and experiences
Research-based
content,
8 major topic
areas
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Managing Assessment
LMS Skills*
Pedagogy(Teaching and
Learning Theory)
Instructional Design Basics
Social Processes
and Presence
Orienting Students
Other Technical Skills
(Computer Skills)*
Institution-specific and Legal
Eight CoreCompetency
Areas
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1. Meets Quality Matters standards.2. Considers different learning styles/preferences3. Makes use of resources from various sources/types
(textbook, interactive software, self check games, external web sites, etc.)
4. Includes formal assessments5. Models good teaching practices 6. Provides resources for additional study if desired7. Upon completion of course, participants have a
‘personalized reference manual’ (portfolio) 8. Evaluates participants’ experiences in the course using
embedded mixed methods research tools
COAT Design Highlights
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Want More Details?
• Go to the Syllabus on the COAT website:
http://www.marylandonline.org/coat/documents/COAT_syllabus_webpage.pdf
• Chat with us later• Read about how the project was developed and piloted:
Shattuck, J., Dubins, B., & Zilberman, D. (2011). MarylandOnline’s inter-institutional project to train higher education adjunct faculty to teach online. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 40-61. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/933/1786
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Phase 3: Implementation (2010-2011)
Course offerings: Fall 2010 – 1 section
Spring 2011– 2 sections Summer 2011 – 2 sections
Cost:$300 Maryland resident/instructor$600 Non-Maryland resident
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Course Showcase
The course models a college credit
course
Discussion Board
Interactive games for self-checking
knowledge
SoftChalk interactive lessons
YouTube videos
Small group activity using a wiki
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Outcomes: Expected
The majority of participants strongly agreed or agreed:
• Course met their needs to prepare them to teach online
• They would recommend the course to a colleague
• Course helped them see what a quality online course looks like
• Instructor provided positive model for online teaching best practices
A few participant quotes…
“The course was well
designed and was above
my expectation.”
“Overall the
course is one that
MarylandOnline
should be proud
of…”
“I have come to the end of a course that was well worth the effort. I am glad that I enrolled in this course since I have so much more knowledge on online teaching. I will tell all my friends who want to teach on line that this course will prepare them well.”
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Outcomes: Unexpected
Enrollment was higher/broader than predicted.• Interest in the course encompassed 64 Maryland and
24 out-of-state faculty from 9 different states.• 3 sections were planned, 5 were needed/taught. • Enrollment included both adjunct and full-time
faculty, as well as administrators…
Enrollment was higher/broader than predicted.• Interest in the course encompassed 64 Maryland and
24 out-of-state faculty from 9 different states.• 3 sections were planned, 5 were needed/taught. • Enrollment included both adjunct and full-time
faculty, as well as administrators…
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Unexpected Outcomes: F/T Faculty
“As a full-time faculty member, I found COAT invaluable…I feel that this course should be offered/required for everyone who teaches online! The course provided excellent resources for the first time online faculty member. The COAT instructor was the perfect role model on promoting social presence along with giving feedback and encouragement. In addition, the communication between the students provided me with some great innovative teaching ideas. I have already recommended the COAT course to another full time nursing faculty member!”
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Unexpected Outcomes: In-House
• 8 MOL member institutions using COAT modules for in-house training for a variety of purposes– using parts to supplement/improve current training– providing the entire course to faculty or using the content
to create new training for their faculty.– adapting it to a self-paced training. – using it to demonstrate the design of a
Quality Matters® certified course.
* Responses indicated the content would be used for both full-time and adjunct faculty training.
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Next Steps…
• Use existing research data to inform course redesign decisions for spring 2012.
• Conduct further research: COAT alumni, distance learning administrators, students.
• Advisory board input• Be ready and open for more unexpected outcomes…
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Project Web site: www.marylandonline.org/coat
Bobbi Dubins, Director [email protected]
Julie Shattuck, Research Coordinator [email protected]
Diana Zilberman, Instructor [email protected]
For more information