Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

References

Discussion

In addition to revealing information about specific populations of respondents, the survey results draw attention to issues of motivation and to common concerns shared by teaching assistants, instructors, and tenure-track faculty. The results also bring to light common challenges facing the majority of online instructors, regardless of rank or individual levels of experience.

This information is important to several different stakeholder groups. First, it is important to those who are considering online teaching. Second, it is important to current online writing instructors who (a) may or may not have previously recognized themselves as belonging to a larger community and (b) may be called on to serve as leaders/representatives. Third, it is important to other stakeholders—such as administrators, support staff, and faculty developers—who are involved in eLearning-related decision making and resource allocation.

Common Challenges and Shared Concerns

According to national and local survey results, online instructors at all levels of experience face similar challenges. Since communication, workload, technology, and classroom management issues are among the most frequently cited challenges, it would make sense for academic technology and instructional support units to address these issues in training and faculty development programs. And because survey results reveal that both inexperienced and experienced online writing instructors face these challenges, programs shouldn't focus exclusively on preparing first-time online teachers.

In addition to facing common challenges, faculty share common concerns. The most commonly cited concerns might be rephrased as questions for further consideration:

• What should an online writing class look like? How should it operate? What are its most essential elements?
• Who should teach writing online? What are the characteristics of a good candidate? How should decisions about who teaches online—and what is taught online—be made?
• How should faculty prepare/be prepared to teach writing online?
• What do faculty need to know about the pedagogy of online writing instruction?
• How should online writing courses be evaluated and by whom?

The survey results present their own challenge, calling for action on the part of administrators at institutions that are growing their online course offerings. The almost universal acknowledgment of the time consuming nature of developing and teaching online writing courses demands attention. Administrators need to consider the time/workload issue, the commonly cited concerns, and what respondents had to say about how departments and institutions can better support faculty who teach writing online. Given the fact that, according to survey responses, levels of administrative interest and involvement vary from institution to institution, what can the faculty themselves do to educate administrators? How can they secure appropriate support and ensure the fair and appropriate evaluation of their online teaching?

Motivating Factors and Issues Demanding Further Consideration

In addition to the issues noted above, administrators, faculty developers, and other stakeholders need to be aware of the paths that are leading writing instructors into the electronic classroom. The survey results do indicate that some respondents are motivated to teach writing online primarily by pragmatic reasons rather than pedagogical ones. Items one and four on the Why Teach Writing Online? list—"convenience and flexibility" and "wanted to add online teaching to CV"—attest to this. It is important to remember, however, that the survey results suggest that most respondents are motivated to teach online by multiple factors.

Items two and five on the Why Teach Writing Online? list—"intellectual interest in online teaching" and "students write extensively and diversely online"—suggest that a number of national survey respondents were thinking about writing pedagogy, composition theory, and other learner-focused and discipline-specific concerns when they decided to teach online. And many individuals describe a desire to explore the promises and possibilities of eLearning.

It is beyond the scope of this study to consider what the various combinations of motivations might mean to the profession or how they might impact faculty and students. Within the current context, information about motivation draws attention to work-life balance issues, the job market as perceived by those not on the tenure track, and the scholarly and pedagogical possibilities of eLearning as recognized by writing instructors. Possible questions for future consideration include

• Is online teaching—as a form of telework—as viable within the academy as it is in certain business sectors and the federal government?
• Does online teaching experience make job candidates more marketable?
• How, if at all, is online teaching being incentivized at colleges and universities?
• Which paths lead some instructors to for-profit online institutions?
• How many part-time writing instructors are teaching online at multiple institutions to increase their incomes and/or to make ends meet?
• How can more online writing instructors be encouraged to contribute various forms of eLearning-related scholarship, including scholarship of teaching and learning, to the field?
• What do these issues mean for our students? What do they mean for our profession?

Conclusions >