Developing a post-pandemic faculty certification program for online teaching: Challenges and Opportunities
Concurrent Session 6
Brief Abstract
Given the remote teaching and professional development efforts that have been sustained since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, what should a faculty certification program for online teaching look like in the post-pandemic era? While approaches to faculty certification involving workshops or a structured professional development program have been commonly used prior to the pandemic, now that most faculty have some experience teaching remotely, a multifaceted approach to faculty certification is now warranted in order to acknowledge the experience that has been gained during the pandemic.
Presenters
Extended Abstract
In what has become known as “the before times,” there were many different institutional approaches to faculty development for teaching in online and blended learning environments. Many such programs led to “certification” that is either recommended or required prior to teaching an online course. Highly structured professional development programs may feature one or more courses that a faculty must complete in order to earn certification, whereas other programs may offer workshop series or alternative pathways to earning a credential that indicates proficiency in online teaching. While many such initiatives have been highly effective in achieving the goal of ensuring high-quality learning experiences, the rapid shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a unique online learning landscape where most faculty in higher education have now had some experience in teaching online.
Remote learning as we have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is not equivalent to a typical online learning environment. In spring, 2020, the shift to remote learning happened quickly, and without much, if any, advanced planning for most faculty. The speed and urgency of a shift to remote learning are, in many ways, in direct contrast to the careful planning and design that are considered best practices in online learning. While the educational challenges that emerged due to COVID-19 were many, so too were the efforts to rapidly build the digital competencies of faculty who had little or no experience teaching in an online learning environment.
Given the professional development efforts that have been sustained during the past year, what should a faculty certification program for online teaching look like in the post-pandemic era? This is the central question that will be explored in this session that will present perspectives from a university administrator, a faculty member, and a learning designer.
Context
At a mid-sized midwestern research intensive university (R2), an initiative was begun prior to the pandemic to develop and implement multiple fully-online degree and certificate programs. As a part of this initiative, the development and implementation of a faculty certification program for online teaching is among the quality assurance measures that are considered essential to the success of these new programs.
During the spring and summer, 2020, over half of the faculty at the institution participated in professional development events regarding remote and online teaching. While a more typical approach to faculty certification involving workshops or a structured professional development program may have been appropriate prior to the pandemic, a multifaceted approach to faculty certification is now warranted in order to acknowledge the experience that has been gained while teaching remotely during the pandemic.
Session Overview
This OLC Accelerate session will include an interactive discussion of the process of developing multiple pathways to faculty certification. Presenters will include both staff and faculty who are engaged in the design and implementation of a new faculty certification program.
At the time of this conference proposal, the faculty certification process is under ongoing development and being prepared for piloting during the summer, 2021. The session will focus on presenting multiple perspectives on the initiative that have contributed to the development and implementation. The following topics will be discussed in order to provide sufficient information to the audience to enable replication of this process at other institutions.
Pre-planning:
- Need/Rationale for the certification process
- Identify challenges and needs through faculty listening sessions
- Identify similar policies/practices within the institution
Multiple certification pathways for faculty who:
- Are new to online teaching
- Taught online for the first time during the pandemic
- Are experienced online educators
Faculty response to the proposal
- Input provided during additional faculty listening sessions
- Challenges to faculty acceptance were identified
- Implications for impact on adjunct faculty recruitment were revealed
Developing faculty support programs to achieve certification
- Group mentoring
- Course Enhancement program
- Just-in-time workshop
Interactivity
The audience will be invited to participate throughout the presentation. Audience members will be asked to provide their own input as administrators, faculty members, designers, etc. through the use of interactive presentation software (e.g. Mentimeter). For example, when discussing the faculty listening sessions that were integral to the pre-planning stage, the audience will be asked to respond to the same questions that were used in the listening sessions.