College faculty’s perception of technology tools & support: Supporting faculty to teach online (original) (raw)
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Factors influencing faculty use of technology in online instruction: a case study
Online Journal of Distance Learning …, 2009
Online education has become a staple of higher education institutions. In the latest survey conducted by the Sloan Foundation, it was found that over two-thirds of higher education institutions were offering a variety of online courses and programs. According to , over 20% of all students took at least one online course in 2006 and this is projected to continue to increase over time. However, observations at a specific urban university in the mid-west, shows vast variation in terms of faculty who choose to utilize online instructional technologies and a significant lag in desired online development. With the importance of online instruction, the question was asked was "how can an institution encourage their faculty members to move forward with online instruction?" This article outlines the answer to that question by determining what factors were found to influence a faculty member's decision whether or not to integrate online technologies into his or her course. The factors considered centered on areas such as: 1) perceptions of online instruction, 2) past experience with online technologies, and 3) specific experiences at the university. These findings, as well as the initial strategies developed to increase faculty participation in online instruction are discussed in the article. Spotts, T. H., Bowman, M. A., & Mertz, C. (1997). Gender and use of instructional technologies: A study of university faculty.
2009
Online education has become a staple of higher education institutions. In the latest survey conducted by the Sloan Foundation, it was found that over two-thirds of higher education institutions were offering a variety of online courses and programs. According to Allen and Seaman (2008), over 20 % of all students took at least one online course in 2006 and this is projected to continue to increase over time. However, observations at a specific urban university in the mid-west, shows vast variation in terms of faculty who choose to utilize online instructional technologies and a significant lag in desired online development. With the importance of online instruction, the question was asked was “how can an institution encourage their faculty members to move forward with online instruction? ” This article outlines the answer to that question by determining what factors were found to influence a faculty member’s decision whether or not to integrate online technologies into his or her cou...
A Glance at Institutional Support for Faculty Teaching in an Online Learning Environment
A survey of higher education institutions in a 12-state region investigated how they support faculty with the design and development of web-based classes. The literature on best practices guided the creation of the web-based survey questions, which targeted the chief academic affairs officers on each campus or the appropriate delegate. The study found that institutions offer a variety of support services to online faculty, such as requiring training prior to teaching online and including web-based learning in institutional goals and strategic plans. The next step implied by the study findings is for institutions to look at strategies that influence the desired behavior changes among faculty to use the institutional support mechanisms provided. With continued advances in web-based learning, colleges and universities strive to meet the needs and interests of students, faculty, and staff. New instructional technologies have at least one thing in common: the learning curve associated with users becoming adept. Mastery requires significant time and attention. Providing the best quality experiences in a web-based learning environment, including but not limited to learning, requires attention not only to the best practices and newest technologies but also to how institutions support and prepare faculty to accomplish such tasks. This article reports findings from a recent study we conducted that looked at how institutions support faculty with the design and development of web-based classes. The compiled findings provide some insight as to how institutions view online learning and how they support faculty in preparing to deliver online classes. This information may help individual institutions determine where they stand relative to other institutions and their own goals. Ann Taylor and Carol McQuiggan's 2008 article in EQ identified several of the support mechanisms online faculty desire, such as assistance with "converting course materials for online use" and "facilitating online discussion forums" as well as additional less-formal and self-paced learning materials. 1 Our study's findings touch on some of Taylor and McQuiggan's findings, which we consider variables or factors affecting faculty success in the web-based classroom. A few of the many other factors that can affect the design, development, and success of a web-based course include online learner needs, 2 the nurturing of community, 3 highly interactive environments, 4 and classroom climate. 5 Research Design Our study looked at provisions of institutional support for web-based classes in a major region of the United States. We identified 12 states in the region and from them selected 364 institutions of higher education. The main criterion used in identifying participating institutions was that they, at a minimum, offer bachelor's degrees. For institutions that, according to their Carnegie Classification, had several satellite campuses, we chose to include only the home campus in an effort to be more conservative with the sample and minimize validity issues (avoiding multi-counting under the same institutional profile). Of the initial campuses selected, 98 participated in the survey for a participation rate of 27 percent.
International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 2021
The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of faculty for the implementation of the online teaching-learning environment and to determine their readiness, technical competence, and challenges in the new normal teaching-learning method. Survey questionnaires were used to examine the familiarity with the technology used in various social media, video conferencing, and learning management systems of 188 university teachers and the use of descriptive data to explore its findings. The respondents were asked to understand online teaching-learning to course design, course communication, time management, and technical competence. Designing the course learning module and activities should be one of the faculty's important readiness and competencies in delivering an online teaching-learning environment. Managing and creating their course in a limited time before offering the course online are challenges for the faculty. Based on the result of the study, it revealed that there were significant differences between readiness, competencies, and challenges with respondents' different demographic variables. It can be concluded that technical skills are necessary for implementing online teaching-learning. Integrating the new normal of teaching-learning online is not an easy task for the faculty and requires various skills in preparing the course materials for online classes. The study contributes to understanding faculty readiness and competencies for using the new normal of teaching and learning. Hence, the findings of this study have implications for the schools to consider teachers' competency when encouraging them to implement online teaching-learning education.
2005
JACKOWSKI, MELISSA BRISTLE. An Examination of Factors that Affect Community College Faculty’s Use of Technology for Teaching: A Comparison of Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty. (Under the direction of Dr. Duane Akroyd) While the literature indicates that community colleges continue to increase their use of part-time faculty and that they are taking a leading role in utilizing technology for instructional purposes, it has also been reported that part-time faculty are less likely than their full-time counterparts to use course-specific web sites and email for instructional purposes, and that they are less likely to teach non-face-to-face classes (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). For the community college to be successful in its expanding role in the use of technology, it must do everything it can to promote technology use by faculty, both full-time and part-time. This study was designed to examine the ability of selected intrinsic motivating factors, extrinsic motivating factors, pe...
Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching and learning in higher education
Distance Education, 2009
…100% of faculty reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the SUNY Learning Network." Spring 1999 SLN Faculty Satisfaction Survey The State University of New York (SUNY) Learning Network (SLN) is the on-line instructional program created for the 64 colleges and nearly 400,000 students of SUNY. The foundation of the program is FACTORS INFLUENCING FACULTY SATISFACTION WITH ASYNCHRONOUS TEACHING AND LEARNING college programs in the SUNY system: the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University at Albany (UA), and the Internet Academy (IA) of Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). These case studies present and examine important evidence of faculty satisfaction from a single-institution and individual-faculty perspective. FACTORS INFLUENCING FACULTY SATISFACTION WITH ASYNCHRONOUS TEACHING AND LEARNING
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
In this paper we study factors influencing faculty's decision to use educational technologies to support their pedagogical strategies. We briefly describe educational technologies commonly used by faculty to support teaching such as emails, video conferences, chat rooms, video lectures, blackboard discussions and Power Point Presentations for example. We explain in detail faculty factors (i.e., gender, age and cultural background), student factors (i.e., academic performance and gender) and contextual factors (i.e., classroom size, institutional support, course subject, and time constraints) as influential factors in using educational technologies by the faculty to support teaching. The paper findings suggest that the factors under study do influence the faculty decision to use educational technologies to support teaching, however, there are certain strategies education institutions can rely upon in order to overcome the barriers that discourage the faculty to fully integrate technology into their pedagogical strategies.
This study employed a survey research design to identify factors that facilitate university faculty to integrate computer-based technologies into their teaching practice. The purpose of the study was to measure the practices and perceptions of higher education faculty toward instructional technology. The designed survey instrument established a series of five personal profile categories. The five categories were used as variables manipulated to enable a series of statistical analyses to examine factors that enable faculty to use technology in their teaching. The survey was electronically administered to faculty in 36 universities in the Appalachian Region; a target population of approximately 4000 potential survey respondents. A total of 427 faculty from 22 of these institutions responded to the survey, which was approximately 10% of the total population. The findings, showed statistically significant correlations between the teaching with technology subscale and personal technology use subscale. This may suggest that personal use and personal knowledge are indicators of whether or not university faculty will use technology in their teaching. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was found between the extent to which female faculty reported using technology compared to male faculty members. The generational factor (age), was not shown to have any significant relationship with the frequency of faculty members‘ use of technology, but results indicated generational differences on the personal requirements profile. Lastly, one finding related to the personal requirements profile indicated that the most common requirement for using technology reported by the faculty was the knowledge that doing so would enhance students‘ learning.
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 2008
With growth of online course enrollments outpacing enrollments in traditional courses by 500%, institutions of higher education are experiencing significant changes in terms of long-term strategic planning. Along with providing for the infrastructure requirements associated with online course offerings, the issue of faculty preparedness and training is considered problematic from an administrative perspective. While instructors may be highly skilled in their content area and practiced in traditional teaching, they are likely not prepared for teaching in the online environment. Though several case studies detailing support mechanisms for faculty involved in online course initiatives exist, the associated program outcomes have been assessed in terms of faculty satisfaction and buy-in. This study examines the relationship between technical support and pedagogical guidance, two factors deemed critical to successful programs, and student satisfaction and perceived learning. The outcomes are considered important as analysis demonstrates that those measures that produce high degrees of faculty satisfaction do not significantly impact students in a similar manner. From an application perspective this leads to questions about how current training and support mechanisms can be enhanced to serve both populations.