In Their Own Voices:
Online Writing Instructors Speak Out on Issues of Preparation, Development, & Support

Laura McGrath, Kennesaw State University


Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

References

 

Methods

National Survey

In the fall and winter of 2005, the author conducted a national survey of individuals who self identified as online writing instructors. Requests for participation were sent to listservs (WPA, TechRhet), posted on Kairosnews, and e-mailed to department chairs at a variety of institutions that the author knew offered online writing courses.

Because of the methods used to solicit participants, it is likely that the majority of the respondents came from departments of English and/or Rhetoric and Writing. In hindsight, it would have been helpful to (a) ask respondents to identify their departments and (b) seek participants from other departments in which faculty may teach writing online (e.g., business writing taught in business schools, technical writing taught in science departments, various professional writing courses taught in schools of journalism or departments of communication).

The self-created online survey instrument featured thirteen open-ended questions:

  • Describe your home institution (e.g., two-year college, private liberal arts, public research university, technical school)
  • Identify your position/rank (e.g., graduate student, adjunct, assistant professor)
  • Identify the writing courses that you have taught online (e.g., first-year composition, technical writing, advanced composition)
  • What course management system or software program have you used to teach writing online (e.g., Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle)?
  • What personal or institutional factors influenced your decision to teach online/compelled you to teach an online writing course?
  • Did your department or institution provide you with any training or resources to facilitate your transition into an electronic classroom? If training was provided, then was this training required or voluntary? Please explain.
  • What did you do to prepare yourself for online teaching?
  • Once you began teaching online, did your department or institution provide you with any professional development opportunities, additional training, or support? Is so, then please describe.
  • Once you began teaching online, what professional development and training opportunities did you seek out and participate in on your own? What resources and support networks did you find most useful?
  • Did departmental or university administrators express interest in your online course(s)? Was your online teaching ever observed by colleagues or administrators?
  • What did/do you find most challenging or problematic about teaching writing online?
  • What could your department or institution do to better support your online teaching?
  • Please describe any concerns that you have about the preparation, development, and support of online writing instructors

Responses were anonymous.

Note: The author obtained Institutional Review Board approval for all portions of the research project and secured the consent of the individuals whose names, voices, and images are used in this webtext.

Methods, continued >

 

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