EDUCAUSE Session Report: “They Really Need to See Me!” The Realities of Teaching Faculty to Teach Online

This is another report from the Midwest EDUCAUSE conference.  This session was presented by Kelly Wilkinson, Director, Center for Instruction Research and Technology, Indiana State University.

The speaker addressed some of what faculty mistakenly expect when going to teach online for the first time:  that it will be easier and that it’s not as time-consuming.  At the polar opposite, some also see it as MORE work, and MORE technology.  Many also fear that there will be no engagement with the students.  (Hence the title of the presentation.) 

David Letterman-style, Wilkinson listed the top 10 reasons faculty can be unsuccessful in teaching online courses: 

10. “I’ve been doing it this way for years.” 
   9. “It’s what I know.”
   8. “I know it works because I used it.”
   7. “I don’t know how to use the tools.”
   6. “It works in all my ‘required’ courses.”
   5.  “I’m not comfortable doing new things.”
   4.  “Lecture is important in my discipline.”
   3.  “I don’t want to change.”
   2. “It’s too much work.”
   1.  “Students want to see me.”

Regarding number 6, the speaker pointed out that required classes have a certain set number of things to get done and are often driven by a common text.  Therefore, it can be somewhat easier to package things like that into an online course.  That’s not necessarily the case with higher-level courses, where the content must be laid out differently and where one has more majors and upper-level students. 

Wilkinson also said (but failed to cite a specific study) that research shows that students, in fact, do NOT have to “see” faculty—it’s the content that’s important.  Regarding number 1; she’s had faculty complain there is no “aha” moment in an online course like there is in face-to-face courses.  Speaking for herself, she said that some of her best teaching moments have come in online courses.  She suggested that faculty should not concentrate so much on content in online courses as they should on interaction, facilitation, process, and method.  Change to a student-centered model, in other words.  Use multiple communication channels.  She cited her own use of immersive feedback, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she uses Jing in her feedback—rather like our own Jodi Cressman did this past semester for her face-to-face classes that Jodi and I did a Technology Bytes presentation on.  (Login limited to DU faculty.) 

Interestingly, rather than being a Quality Matters program, her program endorses the use of the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching .  It was only after I got back to my office that I realized this is a K-12 program from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (oddly abbreviated as iNACOL), so I’m curious how the Higher Learning Commission views this—much less ISU’s faculty—although to be sure the standards can be equally applicable in higher education situations.  (Wilkinson pointed out this decision was driven by cost; it’s not inexpensive to become a fully-certified Quality Matters program.)  While I don’t see Indiana State listed as an institutional member on iNACOL’s listing of members, there are several post-secondary institutions listed, such as Oral Roberts University, University of Central Florida, and University of Hawaii at Manoa, as well as various virtual university programs.  And let’s face it, standards such as “A clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course” should be true for any online course, regardless of level of education.

Anyway, it was good to learn of a new set of standards out there as part of this presentation.  Wilkinson also talked about things that are true in any online program:  faculty members don’t take advantage of (or don’t even know about) the many tools that LMSs such as Blackboard have to offer, and the fact that online testing remains an issue everywhere.

More reports from EDUCAUSE Midwest will be forthcoming!

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