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Inside Digital Learning: Leaders' New Career Paths

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Inside Digital Learning: Leaders' New Career Paths

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Inside Digital Learning: Leaders' New Career Paths

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In today's "Inside Digital Learning" newsletter: Digital learning leaders are forging their own career paths, offering both challenges and thrills. Colleges are employing a variety of marketing tactics -- increasingly digital as well as more unusual approaches -- to attract online students.

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At Stevens Institute of Technology, in New Jersey, Robert Zotti and his team give professors who teach online countless formal and informal training opportunities.

"We make the rounds, pop into offices, ask how everything is going," said Zotti, assistant dean of Stevens's WebCampus, noting he and his staff make a lot of "house calls." "We'll have a webinar or a lunch and learn. If they need one-on-one training, we'll do it. Whatever it takes."

For years colleges and universities have employed a wide array of programs and strategies to prepare instructors to teach online courses, or to elevate the skills of online veterans. Administrators told "Inside Digital Learning" that during the past five years the types of training have greatly expanded in order to deal with the growing limitations on educators' time.

Institutions don't require, although they strongly encourage, full- and part-time instructors to participate, and they attempt to make the training relatively painless. "We try not to rock their world entirely," said Edward Bailey, online media production lead in professional education at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Online Training
Many institutions offer a combination of formal and informal training for online instructors. Not surprisingly, most provide self-paced online courses and modules on a plethora of topics, including how to effectively engage students, keep discussion board conversations on topic and proctor online exams.

Some also provide instructors answers to an abundance of frequently asked questions. Babson College's business school, for instance, maintains a robust Q&A section in its learning management system, said Phillip H. Kim, associate professor of entrepreneurship and faculty director of the blended learning M.B.A. program.

Since 2000, Arizona State University has offered a two-week, eight-hour-per-week master class. Marc Van Horn, ASU's chief online learning officer and assistant vice president for ASU EdPlus, said that the most important aspect of the master class is that instructors experience what it's like to be an online student.

"It's a real eye-opening experience," he said. "They have to participate in discussion boards, take quizzes and submit a paper, all online."

Arizona State, which has one of the nation's largest online efforts in terms of number of courses and learners, also offers a fully online workshop four times per year in which a total of 400 instructors view on-demand tutorials and 30-minute live webcasts, as well as exchanging ideas and information on forums, said Vicki Harmon, instructional designer and manager of professional development.
In-Person Events
More surprising is the number of face-to-face training events institutions sponsor for online instructors. Fanshawe College, in Ontario, for example, offers a one-week residential workshop for all new instructors at the main campus in London as well as those at satellite campuses. The program provides tips for effectively using the college's LMS and for teaching online courses, said Jason J. Kerr, Fanshawe's technology training coordinator for organizational development and learning.

Likewise, Babson's business school arranges a biannual refresher workshop so full- and part-time online M.B.A. faculty members can learn new skills and ask questions about difficult situations they're facing, Kim said.

At Florida International University, a "really big" all-day, once-a-year conference attracts 250 online instructors who partake in hands-on training, said Gus Roque, educational technology manager at FIU Online. FIU Online also runs a structured professional development course for instructors who teach hybrid courses. The university's strategic goal is to better utilize space, so it's converting all first-year courses to a hybrid format, Roque said.

Arizona State offers 65 to 75 in-person workshops annually on topics including effective online pedagogy, Van Horn said.
Instructor Gatherings
Most officials interviewed for this article said that some of the best training takes place when online instructors come together to discuss challenges and share best practices. Some of these gatherings take place at scheduled workshops, and others informally in department meetings and campus cafeterias.

"We have a smaller college with 3,000 students, so faculty know each other," Kim, of Babson, said. "We run into each other because we eat in the student dining hall a couple of times a week ... or we simply pick up the phone and talk."

Zotti said the same about Stevens. "We have the benefit of being a small school," he said. "We know the faculty very well. Having rapport with the faculty for a long time pays off in tangible and intangible ways."

Asking professors to share experiences one on one or in groups is common at all the institutions contacted by "Inside Digital Learning." For example, Georgia Tech offers a new-instructor orientation course three to four times per year, and invites faculty members who are the "rock stars of online" to provide advice to their colleagues, Bailey said.

"Our best asset is our faculty advocates," he added. "Faculty tend to listen to other faculty rather than us. Professors can share what's worked."

At ASU, online instructors are encouraged to attend a once-a-year showcase to share their successes. The two-hour session attracts 60 to 80 people. "We are trying to promote a sense of community," Harmon said. Those who participate also are asked to produce a video of their presentation and post it on the online instructors' webpage.
Instructional Designer Assistance
Besides online and in-person activities, instructional designers play a key role in training faculty members. At Florida International, every online instructor is assigned to work with a designer.

"We try to do the heavy lifting for the faculty so they don't have to be the Blackboard expert" in addition to being the content-matter expert, Roque said. "The instructional designer takes ownership of the course. They want to offer solutions to the faculty."

And the contact doesn't end once the course is created. "The phone calls and emails with instructional designers are constant," he said.

But, Roque noted, while some instructors work closely with designers, others never tap into their expertise. Florida International isn't alone here: this was a common remark from those interviewed for this article.
Constant Challenges
Despite voluminous online and face-to-face training opportunities, colleges and universities still struggle to get significant numbers of full- and part-time instructors to participate. "Instructors have plenty of stories about how much research they are doing, how many classes they are teaching," Zotti said.

"The biggest challenge is time, especially when dealing with adjunct faculty," said Kerr, of Fanshawe College. "If they are teaching online, they are not around" on campus.

Kerr said some of Fanshawe's part-time online instructors live in Canadian cities that aren't near campus -- and they hail from as far away as Florida and overseas. He noted that his team conducts one-on-one training with those instructors via screen-sharing platforms.

Because of instructors' time restraints, Fanshawe is considering converting workshops at its main and satellite campuses to customized sessions and lunch-and-learn events, Kerr said.

Stevens once had a "near compulsory" training program for online instructors, but now it's more informal, Zotti said, adding that he's hopeful for more requirements. "We expect to see it come back in baby steps," he said.

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How colleges train instructors to teach online courses

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At Stevens Institute of Technology, in New Jersey, Robert Zotti and his team give professors who teach online countless formal and informal training opportunities. "We make the rounds, pop into offices, ask how everything is going," said Zotti, assistant dean of Stevens's WebCampus, noting he and his staff make a lot of "house calls."

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Georgia Tech Program Boots Total US CS Master's Degree Grads

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Georgia Tech Program Boots Total US CS Master's Degree Grads

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Georgia Tech online program boosts total number of U.S. computer science master's degree graduates

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Georgia Institute of Technology has graduated 582 students from its online master's degree program in computer science since the program's 2013 inception, according to a new report from the institution.

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Online learning has become so prevalent in recent years that it is becoming somewhat of a norm. When I started my undergraduate years, online courses were offered, but there were very few. As the years went on, they became more common. Online learning and education gives individuals the opportunity to attend college courses and obtain their degree without having to step foot onto a campus. Sometimes these students need online courses because of a family dynamic, they are currently working full-time and do not have the time to go to class in person, or they just prefer attending class from the comfort of their own home.

On a higher education point of view, allowing for online degrees has given universities and colleges the opportunity to expand their courses and gain more students. “Online degrees fueled the growth of for-profit universities for a decade as they penetrated the huge market of nearly 40 million Americans with some college but no credential” (Craig, 2015). By 2010, over 3 million students were enrolled in online degree programs.

What is so amazing about online learning is the fact that we are able to obtain degrees through online courses making it much more convenient for some of us. We are all currently working on our Master’s Degree through an online program. I can say the majority of us work full-time and have families making online courses perfect for us to learn and complete homework assignments on our free time at home. The Georgia Institute of Technology “has graduated 582 students from its online master’s degree program in computer science since the program’s 2013 inception” (Lieberman, 2017). This proves the benefit of offering online programs at colleges and universities.

The internet is an amazing tool most humans have access to that we may not be utilizing enough.

Technology Competency is the NASPA that is most impacted by online learning. Online courses require the use of technology and utilizing new tools that are from the digital world. We broaden our knowledge of technology and are able to engage with fellow students through the online courses even if we are cities or states apart.

References:

Craig, R. (2015). A brief history (and future) of online degree. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancraig/2015/06/23/a-brief-history-and-future-of-online-degrees/#3fb72acf48d9

Lieberman, M. (2017). Georgia tech program boots total US CS master’s degree grads. Insider Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/data/2017/10/11/georgia-tech-online-program-boosts-total-number-us-computer-science