Hiring and Keeping Online Instructors
How does one maintain Online Instructors once they are hired.
Glenda,
This is the age-old question. Figuring out a way to create an "adjunct online community" where ideas can be exchanged and time-saving strategies can be shared is one way.
Linda Scharp
I believe it comes with engaging the faculty and through proper training. Also, if they have a voice in the decisions, I have found that they will have more buy-in.
I think motivating teachers could be a good way to keep them working. It is a hard job any way because it is not the same kind of performance. On-line courses require time, dedication, and a great power of abstraction. It will never be as being in front of a classroom where a teacher solve problems or establish discussions differently. That is the point incentive, motivation to keep on working.
I think keeping online instructors engaged would be a difficult task. Even providing some flexibility and buy-in participation would not provide the level of accountability neccessary in my small vocational technical school...any suggestions to provide the neccessary tools to keep a top instructor engaged?
We experimented for two yrs with instructors teaching a physical class audience mixed with an online audience and received mixed results. Some instructors were able to balance both audience and keep both engaged, while many had difficulties and forgot they had an online audience for stretches of the course.We found that delivering to a pure online audience and not integrating the two together yielded much more productive class sessions. The issue most of our instructors remain frustrated with is gauging which online students logged into the sessions are actually in front of a computer while lecture is being presented.Monitoring the chat activity usually tells the story if the instructors are engaging the students enough.
Ed,
First, are lectures being delivered in a synchronous or asynchronous manner? If the "lectures" are available for later viewing, than what does it matter if the student isn't "...in front of the computer while the "lecture" is being presented?" Fundamentally, it would be helpful to your faculty (and increase their effectiveness) to examine their role in both on-ground and online learning. Depending on the theoretical and pedagogical mindset of the faculty, do they see themselves as "lecturers" and "tellers" of information or do they see themselves as "coaches" and "mentors" who guide and direct learning? Learners should be actively engaged with the faculty member and with one another to have a successful online learning experience and gain new knowledge. Monitoring the chats may be a more effective way for the faculty to see if they are really facilitating learning, but it sounds like you should also take a look at your learning strategy.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
Our courses are synchronus, we did allow for the content to be viewed later for a period of time. The fear from the higher ups was that our courses were being shared and thus effected the enrollement numbers.I certainly see the pros and cons but agree a good look at the roles on-ground and in the online learning may be needed.We do have after-class study group sessions and lab sessions that allow for students to get more hands on and take advantage of the vast knowledge our staff has to offer.I do thank you for your response and agree we do have to find ways to tighten things up to be more effective.
Ed,
The concern over sharing can be managed through the right applications, which should come as part of a customized LMS. I would agree that to remain competitive and grow in your markets, you will have to tighten things up a bit. Let me know if I can help.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I believe keeping things fresh, so to speak, is a great way to maintain Online Instructors. I personally taught the same class for some time and it became monotonous for me. I was elated when my Supervisor began to switch up my classes each term. Then I began monitoring externs on their externship sites remotely, and that was a totally different experience. I think the element of fresh, new, and different experiences each term can help in an online setting.
Our small vocational school is just starting the online course process, so we are starting by forming advisory committies, and getting our advisory committee experts to be our first online instructors, to help get the bugs out of our course material before we offer it to regular students.
Mark,
Have you developed your online delivery strategy? Having a well thought out and conceptualized strategy will provide your advisory board members with a solid starting point, which could then be followed by sharing course materials. Does this make sense?
Dr. Robert Roehrich
Online instructors need to know that they have the help and support they need; good online Program Directors are part of this. As the Campus Online Coordinator at my school, I pay attention to any comments the students make about their online instructors. If I don't hear any complaints, and see that instructor on the list to teach again, then I assume everything is going o.k. If an instructor is given a reasonable number of classes to teach, keeps up with grading and has good evaluations, then he/she will stay.
A lot of online instructors are only doing it part-time, because of other jobs; I know a few who are retired who teach because they still want to be in the environment, to a degree. On the flip side, we have had instructors quit in the middle of a quarter, for one reason or the other, and new instructors are brought in. In this case, the new instructor needs to reassure the students that everything will go as planned, if going well already. If the prior plans were not going well, the new instructor will be able to plan the rest of the quarter as required for the course.
Pamela,
There is an ongoing debate over who should hire online faculty. One common practice is to leave it up to the academic unit, which insures continuity between the on-ground academic program and online activities. Another practice is to hire faculty outside of the academic unit. Usually it's the model followed by the institution that determines which approach is best suited to achieving the online mission of the school. Hiring outside of the academic unit creates questions about sustainability and academic continuity , as you have reflected on. In addition it appears that you are relying quite heavily on student evaluations. Most successful models of faculty assessment rely on a much more comprehensive approach, which also creates more faculty engagement. What more have you incorporated into your process of gauging faculty effectiveness
Dr. Robert Roehrich
With adults who are professionals it is very important that the students have a faculty member that is a coach or mentor.
Margaret,
I agree with your post. What criteria have you established for faculty who can serve as mentors and how do you assess that they are providing the type of mentoring experience you would expect for your students?
Dr. Robert Roehrich
