Survey for Select Online Instructors at Thomas College ~ Colleen Burnham April 2008

Questions have been generated for the explicit purpose of interviewing online instructors in fulfillment of certification requirements in the West Georgia University Distance Education Certified Trainer program. Responses will be kept confidential and anonymous, and will not be presented in such a way that an instructor can be identified by future readers.

Note: There is no character limit in any of the text areas -- just type your thoughts :-)


In which "school" do you teach?

Please list the course numbers for the types of courses that you have taught online or using online resources.

Face-to-Face, using online resources   

Hybrid or Blended (70% online)        

Online (100% online)                              

How would you describe your teaching technique? Do you consider yourself, for example, a "sage on the stage", or do you tend to behave more as a "facilitator" or "mentor" in the classroom.

 

Have you ever taken an online course?

Do you teach online at other academic institutions?

yes   no 


Please describe how you learned to teach online. For example, have you relied on workshops to learn different technologies and techniques? Or do you consider yourself "self-taught"?

What are your favorite methods or features in the online classroom (e.g., discussion board, chat, quizzes)? What makes them your favorites?


Do you know why you don't use other features? That is, for example, would you use a different method if you felt more confident about its mechanics and or purpose?

 Do you perceive any particular "barriers" to learning how to teach online courses?

Describe your satisfaction with the preparation techniques you have used. Were any methods more valuable than others? Why? What, if anything, was lacking in the training available to you?

Was there one training or learning activity that you would consider the most valuable or helpful as you prepared to teach online?

Was there one training or learning activity that you would consider the least valuable or helpful as you prepared to teach online?

How important have other faculty been in helping you to learn to teach online? How often do you assist other faculty who are learning to teach online?

What do you feel is the best way for faculty to learn to teach online?

Do you still participate in any type of training, formal or informal, having to do with online teaching? How does your participation now compare with when you first started learning to teach online?

Have you ever converted a face-to-face course to teach the same course online? If so, what online features did you use to replicate the "f2f" experience - or did  you attempt to replicate the course?

Comments -- i.e., tell me anything else you'd like me to know :-)