Instructor Perceptions of e-Learning

Literature review - Faculty participation in online distance education: barriers and motivators

"The purpose of this review is to examine the overall attitude of higher education faculty toward teaching via distance education. This review will also note factors that motivate and deter faculty participation in distance education, specifically in a web-based, online format. Information regarding attitudes and specific reasons for participation in distance education can provide insight to administrators attempting to build distance education programming while supporting faculty." Loreal L Maguire, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Spring 2005, Vol 8, No 1

Added: 27 March 2005
Reviewer's Note:
A chart records the various motivating and inhibiting factors for faculty participation in distance education

Why I teach online

"A colleague once asked me why I teach online. After several seconds of thought, I realized how that answer has changed over the last 10 years. I first began teaching online because it allowed the students to use the current technology to their advantage and have a little flexibility in their schedule. In 1991 that flexibility was limited, and compared to now, the technology was even more limited. " William Wade, THE Journal, September 2004

Added: 27 September 2004
Reviewer's Note:
"While distance learning is not for everyone, the flexible education alternative provides teachers and students with many advantages."

(My) Three principles of online pedagogy

"As the recipient of the 2003 Sloan-C award for Excellence in Online Teaching, I have been invited to share some of my thoughts regarding effective online pedagogy ... It took over 30 years of college teaching experience for me to realize that the learner is, for the most part, in charge of what gets learned. Implementing this point of view online has, for me, blurred, somewhat, the distinction between effective teaching and pedagogically sound instructional design. If I create an environment in which a majority of students gladly learn that which they and I deem relevant and salient, then have I succeeded as a teacher or as a designer?-and does it matter?" Bill Pelz, JALN, Vol 8, Issue 3, June 2004

Added: 10 July 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Bill has interspersed snippets from several of his current online courses throughout this essay as well as links to the actual courses wherever that was possible

Factors that deter faculty from participating in distance education

"Despite all the positive assertions made about the impact that distance learning has upon classroom teaching, some faculty remain skeptical and can be overwhelmed by the knowledge and technical expertise required to deliver courses via a distance." Lisa O'Quinn, Michael Corry, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, NumberIV, Winter 2002

Added: 3 January 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Results of research into why academics are inhibited from participating in distance teaching

Synchronous learning on the web

"Audio and video conferences have never seemed to me to be a very efficient means of providing online learning. But synchronous conferencing has its place in education, albeit not the place where we see it most often." Stephen Downes, 21 January 2002

Added: 21 January 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Stephen's experiences of participating in an online symposium

The LEEP Experience: An instructor's perspective

Christine Jenkins is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Library Item and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her presentation links to slides which demonstrate how an online course typically takes place in LEEP.

Added: 16 January 2002
Reviewer's Note:
You can read or listen to Christine's presentation

Turn off the cameras - I'll take a traditional class

"I admit it: I do everything I can to avoid teaching "distance learning" classes." Prof Joseph A Konstan, elearn magazine

Added: 10 November 2001
Reviewer's Note:
The view from a professor not particularly enamoured with online learning

A face-to-face graduate class goes online: challenges and successes

"I never saw computer and Internet technology as a teaching tool, let alone the only medium for my own teaching. However, in the late 1990s I was dragged kicking and screaming into using technology for just that. And now I am a convert -- and, dare I say, an expert (or so my colleagues tell me!) on the use of technology as a tool for learning at the university and school level, and as part of the professional development of teachers.

Added: 14 August 2001
Reviewer's Note:
An instructor's "conversion" to online learning!

Distance education: facing the faculty challenge

"Faculty have expressed concern for the adequacy of institutional support, the change in interpersonal relations, and quality in distance education. From a faculty member's perspective, this article explains some of the reasons why faculty resist..." Beverly L Bower, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Summer 2001

Added: 19 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
This article concludes that faculty are just "exhibiting healthy skepticism when they resist the call to jump on the latest educational bandwagon"

Needs, concerns and practices of online instructors

"While the delivery of on-line instructional courses in higher education institutions is flourishing, it is the faculty who play the key role in its successful implementation. Limited research has shown that a number of circumstances influence whether or not faculty choose to teach via on-line. Since faculty are pivotal to the success of online instruction, this study explored their backgrounds, concerns, and their on-line teaching practices. The information that is provided will update decision-makers of the current needs and concerns of on-line instructors so an effective distance-learning program can be fostered." Barbara McKenzie, Nancy Mims, Elizabeth Bennett, Michael Waugh, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Fall 2000

Added: 19 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
The results of a survey that identifies instructor concerns