Online Faculty Certification

Presented by: Dr. Vesta WhislerIvy Tech Community CollegeEast Central Regionvwhisler@ivytech.edu

Topics

• Why we certify our own faculty to teach online

• How we certify faculty to teach online

Why Certify Our Own Faculty?

• Online courses are in demand

• Quality of online courses is in question

• Many faculty have never taught an online course

• Many faculty have never taken an online course

Informal Survey #1

• If you think– online courses are more in

demand on your campus this academic year than last

– hold up your smiley face

• If not, – hold up your frowney face

Online Courses are in Demand

• UOP Online saw 70% enrollment increase– up from 29,000 students in 2001– to 49,400 in 20021

• Postsecondary schools expect online enrollment growth to continue to accelerate– expected average growth rate for online students

for 2004 was 24.8%– up from 19.8% in 20032

1Gallagher, S. (2002, October). For-profit postsecondary online programs grow rapidly by meeting student needs. The Education Economy. Boston: Eduventures, Inc. ).

2Sloan Consortium (2004). Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004. http://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey.asp

Online Courses are in Demand

“In 2000-01, about half of all course enrollments in distance education courses were at public 2-year colleges.”3

3NCES National Center for Education Statistics. The Condition of Education 2004, Section 5 on Contexts of Postsecondary Education, p. 85http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004077

Ivy Tech Statewide DE Stats

DE Course Enrollment Fall End of Term

0 5000 10000 15000 20000

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Includes online & video courses. In 2004, 92.8% were online, 7.2% video.

Ivy Tech Statewide DE StatsDE Headcount as % of Total Enrollment

Fall End of Term

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00%

2002

2003

2004

FASTNET Students

• FASTNET saw a 100% enrollment increase– up from 150 students Fall, 2004

– to 300 in Fall, 2005

– For each 8-week session

Why Certify Faculty?

Online courses are in demand

• Quality of online courses is in question

Informal Survey #2

• If you think– online courses are as good as

(or better than) face-to-face courses on your campus

– hold up your smiley face

• If not– hold up your frowney face

Quality of Online Courses

• A majority of academic leaders believe that online learning quality is already equal to or superior to face-to-face instruction.

• Three quarters of academic leaders at public colleges and universities believe that online learning quality is equal to or superior to face-to-face instruction4

4Sloan Consortium (2004). Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004. http://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey.asp

Why Certify Faculty?

Online courses are in demandQuality of online courses is in question

• Many faculty have never taught an online course

And Even More Important . . .

Many faculty have never

takentaken an online course.

Why Certify Online Faculty?

• Most of us– have experienced what it’s like to take a f2f

class – from the student’s perspective.

• Many, however, – have NOT experienced what it’s like to take

an online class– from the student’s perspective.

Informal Survey #3

• If you – are (or know) a faculty member – who has taught online– AND taken an online class– hold up your smiley face

• If you– are (or know) a faculty member – who has taught online– but not taken an online class– hold up your frowney face

Faculty Professional Development

• Takes time– Adjuncts sometimes hired on the fly

• Takes money– PDG funds in short supply

• Online classes are fairly new– Not available when many of us earned

degrees

Why Certify Faculty?

Online courses are in demand

Quality of online courses is in question

Many faculty have never taught an online course

Many faculty have never taken an online course

Topics

Why we certify faculty to teach online

• How we certify faculty

Online Faculty Certification Course

• Online experience

• The expectations

• The participants

• The results

Personal Online Experience• Late 90’s Ivy Tech

– Top Class– Self-taught

• SMSU CIS – Not my passion• Capella University Online Learning – My passion

– Lotus Notes• Ivy Tech Statewide

– Adopted Blackboard 5 & First Class• Franklin University

– Online faculty training• Ball State – Blackboard 6• Ivy Tech – Blackboard 6• 2004 FASTRACK FASTNET• University of Phoenix

– OE/OWA– Intense online faculty training

Realization

• Not everyone interested in teaching online classes for Ivy Tech has been as immersed in online learning as others.

Solution

• Share what we know with others

• Develop internal training modules

The Expectations

• Four modules

• Minimum participation 3 days a week

• Successful completion of at least 80% of assignments

• 1 Credit Hour = 16 contact hours

• Four weeks = 4 contact hours/week

The Participants• First class (July, 2005)

– All current & prospective FASTNET Instructors (full-time or adjunct)

– Certified 27 faculty• Second class (Sept, 2005)

– New FASTNET Instructors & any interested Region 06 faculty (full-time or adjunct)

– Certified 18 more faculty• Third class (Oct, 2005)

– Any interested Region 06 full-time and adjunct faculty– Mandatory for full-time faculty in some divisions in Region 06 – 20 currently participating

• Next class (Feb, 2006)– Any interested person qualified to teach for Ivy Tech– 8-week option

The Results Participants were asked:

“What are the five most important or memorable things you learned from this course?”

• How to work in groups. • How powerful discussion boards can be• The use of rubrics to encourage students to

contribute even more than they currently do in my classes.

• Building a sense of community in an online class is very important and how icebreakers can help

Results, continued . . .• One distinction that is important as an

instructor integrating learner-centered activity is to act as a coach or facilitator and give support but not too much.

• Plagiarism: How to detect it as well as the variety of information available on this topic. The group discussions/input helped out tremendously.

• Time Management: The on line learning will demand a more structured time management style from the typical student who may wait to do all homework in one night.

Results, continued . . .• The assignments helped me to brush-up on Ivy Tech

Policies and Procedures.• Above all, the best part of this course was the vivid

and stimulating interaction between all the participants.  It reinforced a notion that I already had after teaching several online classes--that online classes can certainly be just as interactive as f2f classes, and sometimes even more so. 

• The entire process of checking grades, posting to the digital drop box, downloading assignment sheets, and everything just helped me to get a better idea of what my students see on the student side of eLearning. 

Results, continued

• The importance of an autobiography to a student.  I learned a lot about my classmates. 

• I learned how to use external links. 

• I really like using a syllabus template, I think this allows for consistency and does not allow you to forget something. 

• I certainly have learned how to walk in my students' shoes.

In Summary . . .

• Why we certify faculty to teach online– Because it’s important

to share best practices

• How we certify faculty to teach online– Online, of course

Question & Answer Time