Wednesday, March 15, 2000

Teaching Distance Courses Is Rewarding, Survey of Instructors Finds By SARAH CARR Faculty members find teaching distance-education courses to be personally rewarding, but many are put off by the amount of time and technical skill that is required, a survey has found. Kay Rockwell and Susan M. Fritz -- both professors in the agricultural leadership, education, and communication department at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln -- asked 139 faculty members in the University of Nebraska system to rank a variety of items as incentives for teaching distance-education courses, obstacles, or neither. "The obstacles identified suggested that faculty tend to see distance education as a time demanding activity that requires new skill development," the researchers wrote in their report. The paper, "Incentives and Obstacles Influencing Higher Education Faculty and Administrators to Teach Via Distance," was published in the winter edition of the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Of those surveyed, approximately 83 percent categorized the opportunity to provide innovative instruction as an incentive, and 67 percent categorized access to place-bound students as an incentive. On the flip side, 69 percent said time requirements are an obstacle to teaching distance-education courses, and 55 percent said developing effective technology skills is an obstacle. One-fourth of the instructors who responded to the survey had taught distance-education courses, while an additional 40 percent expected to teach via distance in the future. "The results didn't so much surprise as confirm some things for me," says Ms. Fritz. "My initial sense was that some of the things that I saw as barriers to teaching distance courses may have been my quirky experience, but the survey showed that they were similar to barriers that others have come up against." "This has become an interesting talking piece," she adds. "Rather than just have one person's opinion or experience, we have enough factual information to have a dialogue." Ms. Fritz says she senses that such dialogues are beginning to bring about changes. The university has brought in speakers who have discussed such issues as Web-course design and online testing. "This has allowed us to be more public in bringing these topics up," she says. "We decided to be advocates rather than just accept things as barriers." Arnold Bateman, the assistant vice chancellor for extended education and outreach at Lincoln, says the report highlights issues that come up repeatedly in discussions about distance education with faculty members -- like the need for additional financial incentives and technical-support services for instructors offering distance courses. "Much of what they are doing is done out of an enthusiasm and commitment on their part," he says. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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