Professional development for faculty should be as robust as the course design expected of them. Good faculty development inspires good design. With positive and innovative approaches, developers and designers can dispel rumors, myths and negative-speak surrounding the shift toward online and blended learning. Championing faculty with what can be done will inspire faculty to go and do.
Discovering creative ways to inspire and lead faculty into the adventure of teaching online is a worthwhile goal for any institution. From a 50-minute Lunch & Learn to a 5-week Online Teaching Institute, we'll share our model for online teacher training. It has been successful to invigorate and inspire our faculty, all the while addressing professionalism, best practicies, instructional quality, online pedagogy, and other campus-wide initiatives.
Educational experience is the culmination of teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence, according to The Community of Inquiry (Col) model. This tells us that presence or space matters just as much in virtual learning environments as in physical learning environments to foster learning. Making online courses places for learning requires an understanding of sound pedagogy, an understanding of how e-learning happens, and intentional design. We are recommending strategies which have been integral to the training of our online faculty over the past three years. We have had measurable success with improving the quality of our online programs and the attitudes of our online faculty.
There will be time for reflection and conversation about how our models can be adapted for other institutions.