Roundtable: Are We Doing Enough for Faculty who are Teaching Online?
Elizabeth A. Harsma
Keywords: roundtable, discussion, faculty, learning, teaching, online, professional, development, training, technology, support, skills, ongoing, institutions, culture, change, shift, best, practice
Abstract
A recent InsideHigherEd.com article (2019, February 13) by Doug Lederman gave an overview of results from a survey of public college provosts. The survey by Learning Hours reported that many forms of training and support for those who teach online is lacking, even as institutions' expectations for online learning capacity and quality grow. The Learning House offered recommendations based on the findings. They include:
•mandatory or incentivized training for instructors who have not taught online.
•a regular feedback cycle for continuous professional development.
•a regular feedback cycle for instructor evaluation, including peer feedback.
•a uniform learning experience for standard components of an online course.
Questions for the Round Table:
Evaluate: Are these recommendations appropriate for public higher education institutions? What should be taken out? What is missing?
Assess: Is an institutional culture change needed for these recommendations to be implemented in a meaningful way? If so, what are the components and process of that culture change?
Apply: What could these recommendations look like in public higher education institutions? What are the best practices for establishing and maintaining sustainable practice of these recommendations?
Author Biography
Elizabeth A. Harsma
Elizabeth Harsma holds a Ph.D. in Education and E-Learning from Northcentral University and a master's degree in Spanish from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Elizabeth has ten years of university teaching experience including classroom, blended/hybrid, and online courses, and continues to teach hybrid and online language courses. Her interests include faculty development in technology integration, culturally relevant and responsive teaching, virtual learning environments (like D2L Brightspace), student engagement and self-regulation of learning, and task-based and team-based teaching and learning.
