The differences of faculty voices : views and experiences with online learning

Abstract

The proportion of chief academic leaders who say online learning is critical to their long term strategy is now at 69.1%, the highest it has been for the last 10 years (Allen & Seaman, 2013, p. 4). Likewise, the proportion of institutions reporting online education is not critical to their long-term strategy has dropped to a new low of 11.2% (Allen & Seaman, 2013, p. 4). In spite of the above described facts, often, faculty may have mixed feelings concerning the adoption of e-courses. In an effort to expand upon research, the current investigation examined the views and experience of faculty at several institutions in reference to online education. The focus of this investigation was responses from post-secondary faculty at Youngstown State University (YSU) and other institutions. The survey questions replicated the study conducted by the Babson Survey and Research group, in 2007, titled Online Learning as Strategic Asset (Seamen, 2009) which examined the experiences of college faculty with online education. Also, questions from another study by Lloyd, Byrne, and McCoy, 2012, titled Faculty’s Barriers to Online Education. In addition to examining the views of the faculty, a comparison of results gathered from the study will be conducted, with the results of the survey collected by the Babson Survey Research Group and non-YSU faculty. Results of the study identified faculty’s 2perceptions3 as well as 2perceived barriers3 to online education. Resistance to online education is directly related to factors that were developed based on results of the survey. Primary factors include, but not limited to: Perceived Learning, Motivation to Teach Online, Perceived Institutional Support, Online Effort and Experience/Expertise. Secondary factors include, but not limited to: Ambiguous Expectations, Increased Workload, Lack of Faculty/Student Expectations, Lack of University Support, Lack of Student Commitment and Lack of Faculty Input.