Distance Education Models and Best Practices

ACADEMY ADMINISTRATION PRACTICEJUNE 2011Statement ofMotivationTeaching OnlineCourses isRequiredPedagogicalAdvantagesOnline Learningis the Future ofEducationFor Personal andProfessionalGrowthIt is the BestWay to ReachParticularStudentsTo EarnAdditionalIncomeOnline CoursesMeet StudentNeeds forFlexible AccessTable 2. Faculty Motivations for Teaching OnlineNot SomewhatPositionImportantImportant ImportantChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyChief AcademicOfficerOnline TeachingFacultyVeryImportant35.8% 32.7% 21.4% 10.1%61.6% 17.7% 13.7% 7.0%19.1% 39.6% 35.5% 5.9%45.6% 30.8% 19.2% 4.3%14.9% 37.0% 35.7% 12.4%35.0% 35.4% 22.7% 6.9%9.3% 35.4% 40.3% 15.0%37.1% 31.2% 24.1% 7.6%8.4% 32.8% 44.8% 14.0%11.5% 33.4% 38.9% 16.2%10.1% 30.0% 40.7% 19.2%43.9% 29.2% 19.9% 6.9%3.4% 19.1% 42.0% 35.5%9.1% 29.0% 40.8% 21.1%Source: The Sloan Consortium, “Staying the Course, Online Education in the United States, 2008,”http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/pdf/staying_the_course.pdfWhatever an institution ultimately decides in this respect, it is critical to develop clearpolicies regarding faculty stipends for the development of distance learning courses,financial incentives for teaching distance courses, and how time spent developingdistance courses will be weighed in tenure considerations. In place of economicincentives, campuses are now more often emphasizing support directives to assistfaculty in optimizing their instructional efforts and maximizing investment in theircourses.© 2011 Hanover Research ‐ Academy Administration Practice24