Effective Online Faculty Training

1Effective Online Faculty Development 1

Effective Online Faculty Development


But first, tell us something about you . . .

•Institutional size, public/private, for profit/non-profit?•Depth of investment in distance learning?•Location of DL initiative?•Faculty profile — who is your audience?•Distinctive training needs•LMS of choice


Administering and Incentivizing Online Faculty Development

Dr. Bruce L. EdwardsBowling Green State University

<[email protected]>

http://cobl.bgsu.edu

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BGSU DL Development Timeline

1999-2000 — Campus Task Force commissioned to explore possibilities for online delivery of BGSU course work and programs

2000-01 — Building infrastructure and staffing, naming of associate dean for distance education, LMS move from WEBCT™ to Blackboard™, initial program identification & delivery

2002-04 — Developing inventory, approval policies, business plan; HLC-NCA report authored, visit from team, accreditation for all degree programs granted

2005-present — Continuous development and refinement of incentives policy, faculty training programs, expansion & diversity of online & blended programs, transition from Continuing Ed to Academic Affairs.

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Crucial Junctures in Development

• Establishing DL operation base that is academically-driven (not primarily tech-driven)

• Seeking low hanging fruit (BGSU examples: Advanced Technology Education; Liberal Studies)

• Niche program forecasting, assessment of market, and development & staffing costs

• Course inventory building – general education, key upper-division, graduate

• Cultivating collaborative relationships between college(s) and program developers (admin., faculty, staff, IT)

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Key Questions for Faculty Development Planning @ BGSU

Target Audience(s): faculty & student Delivery Mode(s) for instruction Technology &/vs. Pedagogy Implementing Quality Matters™

standards Incentives for participation in

development/instruction

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Primary Goals of Online Faculty Development @ BGSU (1)

• Modeling the instructor’s role in an online classroom by simulating an immersive student experience during the training

• Differentiating course development goals:• Replication — Goal: identical as possible to F2F classroom

• Commensuration — Goal: equivalency

• Maximization — Goal: exploitation of new medium

• Distinguishing LMS “training” from true pedagogical instruction

• Promoting/demo-ing multiple forms of assessment and evaluation uniquely available in online media

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• Cataloguing and demonstrating the diverse learner style and suggest appropriate adaptive strategies to monitor and facilitate students’ online learning

• Identifying and applying effective strategies for facilitating and assessing online interaction and transactional discourse between peers and between students/faculty

• Developing repertoire of appropriate classroom strategies to promote active learning (using basic LMS, other stand alone online tools, QM design principles, etc.)

• Addressing effective time management skills and workload expectations related to teaching effectively online

Primary Goals of Online Faculty Development @ BGSU (2)

Effective Online Faculty Development8


BGSU Incentives Policy in a Nutshell

• Incentives apply to program-based development not single courses

• Faculty receive up to $2000 per course developed• Faculty receive $1000 bonus per course taught, each

time it is taught• Prior to 2009, colleges & departments also received a

bonus of $500 and $750 respectively per course. • Dept. chairs received reimbursement for any temporary

hire needed to replace faculty member on DL assignment.

• Training program and “certification” now mandatory.

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CODA: Reflections on BGSU Faculty Development

• Since 2005, Bowling Green State University has offered faculty development course work for online pedagogy and strategic use of Web 2.0 tech tools in a fully-online format.

• More than 400 part- and full-time faculty have completed the course designed to be both comprehensive and compact.

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Outcomes

• Over the past three years, BGSU has collaborated with staff among several two-year and private colleges in Ohio to continue to refine, extend, promote, and share faculty development opportunities that enrich faculty experience and grow expertise in the region.

• This has had the desired effect of growing partnerships and articulation agreements that advantage distance learners in this region as well as developing a cooperative of well-trained faculty who can respond to staffing needs throughout the state.



Ongoing Challenges

• Maintaining currency: platforms, tools, rising expectations, staff development

• Training vs. retraining: overcoming faculty reluctance to refresh knowledge

• “Quality” battles: addressing the campus climate

• Budget shrinkage for incentives and basic operating expenses and staffing


For more info: http://cobl.bgsu.eduhttp://online.bgsu.edu


T I ETechnology Instructional

EnhancementsOutreach Credit Programs

Outreach SchoolUniversity of Wyoming


Identify, explore and evaluate new technologies and

their application to teaching and learning.

Purpose


Process

• Encourage faculty innovation• Support faculty in this innovation • Develop “Best Practice” models• Evaluate innovations


Projects

• Web Conferencing

• Streaming Video

• Podcasting

• Advanced technologies

Outreach faculty were invited by instructional designers to participate in one of the development program projects


Incentives• Monetary, material, and support incentives• Varying monetary stipends, depending on

level of participation• “Tech toy” of voice recorder or Flip Video


Commitmentsfrom faculty•Participate in training•Assess outcomes•Present on experience•Revise class design•Use it !

from UW Outreach•Monetary stipend•“Tech toy”•Software & hardware•Training•Instructional design•Technical support


What motivated you to participate in this TIE Development Program?

• Monetary stipend• “Tech Toy”• Provision of hardware and software• Instructional training, design, and support from OCP

instructional designer• Interest to expand teaching skills• Desire to use this technology for specific teaching and

learning activities in this class


Faculty Motivations

Most important



Conclusions• Technology adoption extends beyond TIE

•e-volution Tech Forum success• Evidence for continuing Elluminate• Greater understanding of faculty motivations• Demonstrated “what we do.” (internal

marketing)• Institutionalizes the exception as the standard


Thanks for your time!

• Dr. Christi Boggs, [email protected]

Outreach Credit Programs

307-766-4300

http://www.uwyo.edu/TIE