Results
What could departments or institutions do to better support online teaching?
Respondents offer a variety of answers to the question of what can be done to better support online teaching, but common threads connect the responses. Above all, these online writing instructors want departments and institutions to "reward and value" online teaching and recognize the "time-intensive" nature of this endeavor. Specific suggestions include providing financial incentives for online teaching and release time
for course development; offering formal training for first-time online teachers; coordinating communication among online teachers (e.g., discussion groups, mentoring programs); and providing sample online courses, syllabi, and classroom-tested activities.
Departments and institutions must also consider how to best support the more seasoned online instructor, who, as national survey results reveal, has fewer if any on-campus professional development opportunities. A local survey respondent writes, "As someone having taught for over five years in this environment, I would like to see development opportunities for the seasoned educator who could benefit from new ideas and new approaches, but who would not have to start at the beginning." This sentiment is echoed by several of the more experienced online instructors who responded to the national survey.
Other concerns?
The national survey results reveal a number of other issues of concern. Some respondents emphasize that new teachers must learn to adapt to the online environment and realize that "teaching [online] is more than placing information on the website." Other individuals note that not everyone can teach successfully online and that no one should be forced to teach online.
Top issues cited by multiple respondents include concerns about an overall lack of preparation, training, and oversight with regard to the teaching of writing online. "If administrators want to make online learning a priority," a respondent writes, "they need to put their money where their [mouths are]. They need to provide more practical training, smaller classes, more incentives—financial and otherwise—and more oversight to insure quality across the board."
Other respondents cite a need for institutions and/or departments to provide "technical and PEDAGOGICAL help." As this last item indicates, the answer to the question of what departments and institutions can do to better support online teaching may include attempts to address discipline-specific support needs. A local survey respondent requests "workshops that tie pedagogy—writing pedagogy, specifically—to online teaching . . . . workshops that focus not on software/technology but on using those technologies . . . to provide students with significant learning experiences online."
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