Increasing Demands for Higher Education Online Courses - Implications

Increasing demands for higher education online courses have implications for educational institutions and instructor course design, teaching, and workload.

From the institutional perspective a shift to systems thinking is required - looking at how change involves all parts of the organization and how the parts influence one another within a whole. When traditional higher education institutions consider including online education in their offerings, they should address institutional and instructional issues and challenges, ensure that the same type of services provided for traditional face-to-face programs be adapted for the online environment (i.e. student services, technology support, instructor support, and so on), and look closely at the impact on instructor teaching and workload. Both institutional and instructional issues need to be considered and the challenges they present addressed.  

As instructors move their courses online, they will be rethinking their courses, using new technologies, adapting course design, and modifying teaching strategies. What will the impact be on their time and the management of their workload? If institutions are aware of these issues and appeal to instructors with understanding and extrinsic motivators (i.e. policy change, instructor support, incentives, and rewards), institutions can begin to meet the online challenges. Since higher education institutions benefit from the rewards of online courses, it is crucial that they also realize the impact on their instructors.

Book Offers Help for Online Instructors

See the UW-Milwaukee Interview about the book at http://t.co/xKcgkYME

Brief Book Summary

A large number of institutions are now providing online programs, requiring instructors to change the way they think about teaching and master a distinct set of workload management skills. The first book to discuss workload management for online instructors, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Balance and Success offers practical strategies, advice, and examples for how to prioritize, balance, and manage an online teaching workload. Based on surveys and interviews, the timely and comprehensive insight in this book is essential for online instructors, instructional designers, faculty developers and others involved in online learning.

Not Too Late to Register for Speaks VOLumes Online

It's not too late to register for the Speaks VOLumes Online Conference. eInterface will present on its two books: Creating Online Presence and Managing Online Instructor Workload, August 3, in the Learning With the Authors sessions: Register at: http://pd.txvsn.org/mod/data/view.php?id=2068

• Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching - How can faculty create a strong e presence for their online classes? This volume highlights the need for creating a presence in the online environment. The authors explore the emotional, psychological, and social aspects from both the instructor and student perspective. It provides an instructional design framework and shows how a strong presence contributes to effective teaching and learning. Filled with illustrative examples and based on research and experience, the book contains methods, case scenarios, and activities for creating, maintaining, and evaluating presence throughout the cycle of an online course.

• Managing Online Instructor Workload - A large number of institutions are now providing online programs, requiring instructors to change the way they think about teaching and master a distinct set of workload management skills. The first book to discuss workload management for online instructors, Managing Online Instructor Workload offers practical strategies, advice, and examples for how to prioritize, balance, and manage an online teaching workload. Based on surveys and interviews, the timely and comprehensive insight in this book is essential for online instructors, instructional designers, faculty developers and others involved in online learning.

Both books are available at: 

                                                   http://www.josseybass.com

                                                   http://amazon.com

                                                   http://barnesandnoble.com

August 24 Presentation on Online Presence

Dr. Rosemary M. Lehman will be one of the featured speakers for the Bridging the Gap Through Standards & Technology Webinar, Aug. 24, 2012. Her presentation will be on Online Presence for teachers of Russian as a foreign language in the United States: http://startalkrussian.homestead.com/About.html

The Bridging the Gap program provides unique professional training for teachers of Russian as a foreign language in the United States. The program is designed to fulfill three main goals:

1. Creation of a combined set of methodological guidelines for Russian as a foreign language.

2. Training in integrating technology into teaching.

3. Understanding distance learning environments.

Distance Teaching & Learning Workshop

Workshop "Managing Workload When Teaching Online" http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference Managing workload can be a cause for anxiety for instructors who teach online, attributed by the demands from the administration; a perception that the online environment is omnipresent and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; a lack of understanding of the elements that make up the distance learning environment; inexperience in designing online instruction; and a lack of awareness of the importance of being present with learners online. All of these factors can make the instructor feel overwhelmed. Four strategies can be critical approaches for instructors to manage workload: design, support, teaching, and time allocation. Design strategies involve approaches used before the course starts and often during instruction. These strategies include: pre-planning, anticipating course responsibilities, prioritizing course activities, anticipating student-learning needs, and reflecting on and revising courses already taught. Support strategies include one-on-one support, institutional support, peer support, and external support. These support strategies involve approaches used before and during the online course and depend on the instructors’ level of experience in online teaching, type of course taught, and student need. Teaching strategies are the ones instructors use before and during the online course to manage workload and they involve administrative, facilitative, and evaluative tasks. Time allocation strategies seem to be the most critical ones for instructors. For some instructors, designing a course can take between 10 to 120 hours the first time around. Moreover, design time varies from discipline to discipline, support received from the institution, number of students in the course, and the type of technology used. The workshop will reflect on workload strategies used when teaching online and identify strategies for managing workload and prioritizing time and will provide small group opportunities to analyze workload strategies through instructor cases and use a template to identify teaching tasks and prioritize time.

eIterface: Two Presentations at Speaks VOLumes Online Conference

eInterface (Rosemary Lehman and Simone Conceição) will provide two presentations for the 2nd Annual Speaks VOLumes Online Learning Conference on Aug. 3, 2012:

http://pd.txvsn.org/course/view.php?id=35

Managing Online Instructor Workload - Strategies for Finding Balance and Success

Simone C. O. Conceição and Rosemary Lehman

During this session, the authors will provide a synthesis of their book. The book is filled with timely and comprehensive insight that is essential for online instructors, instructional designers, faculty developers, and anyone who wants to succeed in online teaching. The authors will begin the session with how the book is organized. Then they will focus on: 1) the study which served as the foundation for the book, 2) the four major strategies for managing workload when teaching online, 3) the stories of two instructors who teach online, and 4) a template for managing tasks and prioritizing time. The authors welcome questions throughout the session and encourage audience participants to share ways in which they have managed their workload and prioritized their time.
August 3, 12:00pm

Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching - How to Be There for Distance Learners

Rosemary M. Lehman and Simone C. O. Conceição

During this session, the authors will present a summary of their book, “Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to "Be There" for Distance Learners.” The session will begin with a look at the way in which the book is organized, followed by a walk through some of the following topics: 1) the meaning of presence, 2) why presence is important, 3) the role of presence in the online environment, 4) a learner-centered model, 5) a framework for creating a sense of presence, and 6) activities to create a sense of presence. The authors welcome questions throughout the session and encourage audience participants to share ways in which they have created presence. 

August 3, 1:30pm

http://pd.txvsn.org/course/view.php?id=35 Dynamic presenters on each day will allow you to delve deeper into the place of online teaching and learning in K-12 and examine the role mobile learning plays as well.

May 2012 Presentations

May eInterface presentations: Simone presented on the use of technology and distance education for instruction. at Ilhéus, Bahia, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC). Rosemary presented on creating online/blended presence and community for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terra Haute, IN

Making Sense of Presence - Are You Here or There?

The basic difference between face-to-face teaching/learning and distance teaching/learning is the separation of the instructor from the learners and the learners from each other. This separation can cause feelings of isolation, frustration, and anxiety. A way to overcome these feelings in the online environment is through an awareness and understanding of a sense of presence that is followed by creating presence and community through course design. Often in our classes our learners have said that they feel as though they are not separated but are in the same room. Are they “here or there” – often they really aren’t sure and that is amazing! If you keep in mind that making sense of presence in the online environment is based not on what is actually taking place but rather on the way the course is designed and the way you and your learners think, feel, and behave, you will begin to truly “be there” and “be together” with others.

 

End of Online Course Activities

Instructor presence may actually lessen during the final two or three weeks of the online course, as learners become more independent, confident, and focused on what is needed to complete the course. During this time, instructors should pay special attention to completing tasks, clarifying issues through announcements, and providing support through individual or group or team meetings. At this point, technology should be totally transparent.

End of Course activities may include: 1) end-of-course communication, in the form of announcements (for example, a Welcome to the last Unit Announcement and a Final Course Announcement when everything has been completed), 2) paper critiques in which course participants write a topic synthesis and share it with group members for critique, 3) team project self- and peer feedback for rating individuals in the team and the team itself, 4) whole group discussion that will offer time for reflection and new perspectives, 5) Instructor feedback, as a facilitator, supporter, and evaluator, and 6) end-of-course debriefing to help learners decompress and process their online course experience.