As a faculty member engaging in her first experience as a fully online instructor, Dr. Anna Hart critically examined her practices in order to better understand online teaching, student needs, and herself as a practitioner. This session details her journey and provides insight for others involved in online instruction.
Research on teaching in an online format has shown that there are a number of potential roadblocks for faculty new to this method of instruction, including an increase in the amount of work and the time devoted to a given online course, difficulties in providing evidence of professional activity for promotion and tenure review, a potential lack of quality control and student academic integrity, and a feeling of “ducking responsibilities and avoiding interactions with the students” (Wright, 2012, p. 88). As a faculty member keenly interested in mitigating these obstacles, Dr. Anna Hart critically examined her practices in order to better understand online teaching, student needs, and ultimately herself as a practitioner.
This session, designed for anyone involved in online teaching and learning, will detail the presenter’s initial foray into graduate instruction in a fully online format. Participants will be given a synopsis of the presenter’s personal experiences as well as data collected from students regarding their preferences and needs in engaging in online coursework. Additionally, participants will be invited to ask questions about the planning, implementation, and results of the presenter’s experience. It is the intention of the presenter that her experiences be shared in an effort to illuminate the needs not only of students engaging in online learning opportunities, but also the needs of faculty members new to the online teaching format.