MarylandOnline’s COAT Online Adjunct Faculty Training Project

Outcomes:Expect the Unexpected

Bobbi Dubins, Julie Shattuck, Diana Zilberman

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http://www.marylandonline.org/coat

Copyright 2011 MarylandOnline

For more information

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Who Are We?

MarylandOnline is a consortium of community

colleges and senior institutions in the state of

Maryland. The organization was

founded to promote and support the distance

learning communities of its member colleges.

www.marylandonline.org

COAT Project Team

Bobbi DubinsCOAT Project Director

Julie ShattuckCOAT Research Coordinator

Diana Zilberman COAT Instructor

Carole RedlineCOAT Course Instructor

Deborah TurnerCOAT Course Technical Support

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Presentation Outline

Copyright 2011 MarylandOnline

2008-2009: Research & Adjunct Faculty

Focus 2010-2011: Expected

and Unexpected Outcomes

2009-2010: Course

Design, Pilot, &

Evaluation

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Phase 1: Research(2008-2009)

• Training needs of MD higher education institutions

• Level of interest in possible shared training for online instructors

• Online teaching competencies (literature review)

• Existing online teaching courses

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COAT: Phase 1 Course Recommendations

• Delivered fully online• 9-week, cohort, paced training with

assessments• Modularized – reusable across LMS• Focus on teaching online, not course

design

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Who is the Course Designed For? Why?

Adjunct faculty with:• Experience teaching f2f in higher education• Basic technical navigational LMS skills & basic computer skills

Why adjuncts?• Portable training to multiple institutions• Asynchronous training for access• Pool of trained adjuncts for administrators

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Want More Details?

• Go to the COAT website, Project History section: http://www.marylandonline.org/coat/history.htm

• Chat with us later• See research results from phase 1:

– Dubins, B. H., & Graham, M. B. (2009). Training instructors to teach online: Research on competencies/best practices. Paper presented at the 25th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Madison, WI. http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/09_20433.pdf

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Phase 2: Design, Pilot, & Evaluate

Collaborative, team

approach

Inter-Institutional

Diverse members,

skill sets, and experiences

Research-based

content,

8 major topic

areas

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Managing Assessment

LMS Skills*

Pedagogy(Teaching and

Learning Theory)

Instructional Design Basics

Social Processes

and Presence

Orienting Students

Other Technical Skills

(Computer Skills)*

Institution-specific and Legal

Eight CoreCompetency

Areas

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1. Meets Quality Matters standards.2. Considers different learning styles/preferences3. Makes use of resources from various sources/types

(textbook, interactive software, self check games, external web sites, etc.)

4. Includes formal assessments5. Models good teaching practices 6. Provides resources for additional study if desired7. Upon completion of course, participants have a

‘personalized reference manual’ (portfolio) 8. Evaluates participants’ experiences in the course using

embedded mixed methods research tools

COAT Design Highlights

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Want More Details?

• Go to the Syllabus on the COAT website:

http://www.marylandonline.org/coat/documents/COAT_syllabus_webpage.pdf

• Chat with us later• Read about how the project was developed and piloted:

Shattuck, J., Dubins, B., & Zilberman, D. (2011). MarylandOnline’s inter-institutional project to train higher education adjunct faculty to teach online. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 40-61. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/933/1786

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Phase 3: Implementation (2010-2011)

Course offerings: Fall 2010 – 1 section

Spring 2011– 2 sections Summer 2011 – 2 sections

Cost:$300 Maryland resident/instructor$600 Non-Maryland resident

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Course Showcase

The course models a college credit

course

Discussion Board

Interactive games for self-checking

knowledge

SoftChalk interactive lessons

YouTube videos

Small group activity using a wiki

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Outcomes: Expected

The majority of participants strongly agreed or agreed:

• Course met their needs to prepare them to teach online

• They would recommend the course to a colleague

• Course helped them see what a quality online course looks like

• Instructor provided positive model for online teaching best practices

A few participant quotes…

“The course was well

designed and was above

my expectation.”

“Overall the

course is one that

MarylandOnline

should be proud

of…”

“I have come to the end of a course that was well worth the effort. I am glad that I enrolled in this course since I have so much more knowledge on online teaching. I will tell all my friends who want to teach on line that this course will prepare them well.”

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Outcomes: Unexpected

Enrollment was higher/broader than predicted.• Interest in the course encompassed 64 Maryland and

24 out-of-state faculty from 9 different states.• 3 sections were planned, 5 were needed/taught. • Enrollment included both adjunct and full-time

faculty, as well as administrators…

Enrollment was higher/broader than predicted.• Interest in the course encompassed 64 Maryland and

24 out-of-state faculty from 9 different states.• 3 sections were planned, 5 were needed/taught. • Enrollment included both adjunct and full-time

faculty, as well as administrators…

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Unexpected Outcomes: F/T Faculty

“As a full-time faculty member, I found COAT invaluable…I feel that this course should be offered/required for everyone who teaches online! The course provided excellent resources for the first time online faculty member. The COAT instructor was the perfect role model on promoting social presence along with giving feedback and encouragement. In addition, the communication between the students provided me with some great innovative teaching ideas. I have already recommended the COAT course to another full time nursing faculty member!”

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Unexpected Outcomes: In-House

• 8 MOL member institutions using COAT modules for in-house training for a variety of purposes– using parts to supplement/improve current training– providing the entire course to faculty or using the content

to create new training for their faculty.– adapting it to a self-paced training. – using it to demonstrate the design of a

Quality Matters® certified course.

* Responses indicated the content would be used for both full-time and adjunct faculty training.

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Next Steps…

• Use existing research data to inform course redesign decisions for spring 2012.

• Conduct further research: COAT alumni, distance learning administrators, students.

• Advisory board input• Be ready and open for more unexpected outcomes…

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Project Web site: www.marylandonline.org/coat

Bobbi Dubins, Director bdubins@allegany.edu

Julie Shattuck, Research Coordinator jshattuck@frederick.edu

Diana Zilberman, Instructor dzilberman@bccc.edu

For more information