Chapter 8: Training Faculty for Online Instruction: A Best Practices Case Study

The proliferation of online courses continues to grow, with universities eagerly responding to the use of technology to reach students who may not otherwise be able to attend classes on campus (Puzziferro & Shelton, 2009). As the demand for online classes grows, so does the need to train faculty in techniques for online pedagogy to facilitate quality online instruction. Unfortunately, too few faculty members are trained to design and deliver online instruction, instead relying upon their experience of teaching within the traditional classroom context, which may not be sufficient for online instruction (McQuiggan, 2012). While some universities have very specific plans for faculty development to facilitate quality online instruction, there is little research that guides the development of such training. The purpose of this chapter is to present a case study that describes training faculty to teach online by focusing on pedagogical topics in online instruction rather than just technical concerns (e.g., how to use the LMS). Offered online through the campus learning management system, the faculty training program models best practices in a number of ways (e.g., communication, design) and places the faculty member in the place of the student to experience the training as an online student. This chapter reviews relevant literature on faculty development for online courses, the training program's topics and the best practices employed, the participants' perceptions of the training experience, as well as some of the authors' observations of the lessons learned from this experience.