Making Online Faculty Professional Development a Priority at Your Institution

Concurrent Session 6
Streamed Session OLC Session

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Session Materials

Brief Abstract

Participants will learn more about the new OLC Online Faculty Professional Development Framework and the implementation of this framework to support and prepare online faculty at their institution.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Kaye Shelton, Lamar University: Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Global)

Kaye Shelton, Ph.D. is a Professor of Educational Leadership in the Center for Doctoral Studies in the College of Education at Lamar University. Previously as the Dean of Online Education for Dallas Baptist University, she led the development and ongoing operations of their online education programs with over 55 majors and degrees offered fully online. She is certified as an online instructor, teaching online since 1999, and also an online education consultant. Winner of the both the Blackboard and eLearning exemplary online course awards, she has published over 40 articles and book chapters in the field of online education, including a coauthored book entitled An Administrator's Guide to Online Education. Dr. Shelton was also awarded a Sloan-C Effective Practice award for her research on the Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Education Programs, the John R. Bourne award for Outstanding Achievement in Online Education and the NCPEA Morphet Dissertation award.  Dr. Shelton has been involved with research in online education since 1997 and has spoken at numerous conferences and workshops and advised peer institutions regarding the creation of an online education program and best practices for teaching online and faculty support.  Recently, Dr. Shelton has been involved in the national and international use of the OLC Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Programs as it has been adopted by institutions in Latin America. She is also an Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard program evaluator and teaches workshops regarding its implementation.  

Co-presenter: Jennifer Mathes, Online Learning Consortium

Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D serves as the Chief Executive Officer at the Online Learning Consortium. In this role, she provides the strategic direction for the organization and supports the development of key projects and programs to support OLC members. Dr. Mathes has 25 years of experience in both public and private education where she has continuously supported digital learning initiatives. In addition, Dr. Mathes is the author of the ICDE Report Global Quality in Online, Open, Flexible and Technology Enhanced Education: An Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (2019) and co-editor of the OLC Quality Scorecard Handbook: Criteria for Excellence in Blended Learning Programs (2017). She continues to write and present on key topics in online, blended and digital learning.

Extended Abstract

Because of the continued growth in online education, higher educational institutions must prepare faculty throughout their teaching career for learning theory, technical expertise, and pedagogical shifts for teaching in the online environment. This session presents the OLC Online Faculty Professional Development Framework, the result of a recent Delphi Method research study. In this study, consensus was gained from a panel of experts on the essentiality of professional development items to help faculty prepare for teaching in the online environment. After four survey rounds to develop consensus, best practices were identified consisting of essential professional development and institutional/organizational strategies for supporting faculty teaching online. These results are significant for planning new or improving existing faculty development programs that enhance teaching and learning in the online classroom.