Adjunct instructors who are current and actively working in the field can share important current information in an online learning education set-up.
Bringing real-world experience into courses helps bridge the connection between the classroom and the job world. Hiring faculty with industry experience, who can provide this type of engagement, is of tremendous value to learners.
Having education (AND subsequent support for ongoing faculty development) in addition to the vocational experience greatly reduces the negative impact on student learning outcomes.
I learned that it is important to hire people with a minimum of 2 years of experience. Another important quality is bringing faculty on board that has real-world experience.
It is important to apply the real word career focussed experience to the classroom at all times. Therefore hiring current career professionals to teach adjunct provides a well-rounded career-focused experience for students.
I have learned the importance of utilizing adjunct faculty members to provide current industry standards that can enhance curriculum instruction and development. As a faculty manager, it is important to hire faculty members based on institutional need, educational preparation and experience.
Highlighting faculty qualifications that surpass the generally accepted standards can be one area of market differentiation for an institution i.e. hiring Medical Coding instructors that hold several different types of credentials from both AAPC & AHIMA.
As I am hiring faculty, I will consider the "real world" expertise that they will bring to the classroom. I will also consider their level of expertise with the various types of online learning and LMS systems (static versus interaction).
Hiring industry professionals with current workplace experience provides a wealth of knowledge to the classroom experience and makes it more relevant as the students prepare for externship.
