Small Group Results

E-Learning Leadership Team Retreat

Participant Small-Group Summary

Importance of Incentives to Encourage E-Learning Development

Incentives that were identified included individual as well as programmatic possibilities. They generally agreed that we need to explore ways to enhance incentive programs related to e-learning development. Some incentives listed include:

stipends for faculty training and development
reassigned time for training and web-enhanced course development
personal reward/motivation for instructional improvement
departmental, college, and university-wide recognition (maybe an award)
contributions of online and web-enhanced courses to stronger academic programs
increase department chair support and encouragement of web-based instructional initiatives
increased flexibility of courses offerings for students and faculty
recognition for tenure and promotion as scholarship, teaching and service

Support Mechanisms for E-learning Development

Although some support mechanisms exist (e.g., WebCT support), we need to strengthen and expand support in other areas such as more support for instructional course design, web page development, training in using multimedia tools.
Suggestion to emphasize use of STARS program as resource available to faculty to use as assistance for online and web-enhanced course development (maybe rename it "Web Rangers").
Explore outsourcing some aspects of the web-based course design.
On-campus testing center/faciltity for students enrolled in online courses.
Assistance for students enrolled in online courses (e.g., help desk, orientation CD similar to that developed at the University of Central Florida)
Improved strategic planning at the departmental, college, and university levels as to what courses, sequences of courses, or programs will be fully or partially online (some perception this is occurring in a hit or miss manner). We also need to address concerns over review and approval for shifting courses to an online format.
Identify a faculty member (or team) in each college who is experienced in online course development and give reassigned time for this person to work as a consultant with other faculty in the college on online course development. The opinion was expressed that this person would not only be more accessible to colleagues, but have more hands on experience to share.

Team Leadership Goals for KSU Community

Develop symposium for part-time faculty to provide training designed to accomplish
Skill development in use of WebCT
Placement of course materials on WebCT (e.g., assignments, syllabus)
Development of assignment modules in Web CT
Development of WebCT courses
Develop Campus Faculty Learning Community for Online Teaching
Disseminate Best Practices in Online Teaching. Possibility of an annual program spotlighting best practices and model courses both on-campus and off (e.g., e-core).
Design Assessment Instruments (Scholarship of Teaching)
Support development of a centralized KSU web site on teaching online and web-enhanced courses. The web site could include a map of teaching and instruction support on campus; links to campus, USG and other resources for online teaching; and a Bulletin Board run by a designated group of experts where faculty can post questions and experiences in web-based instruction.

Individual Goals

assess which portions of course can be put on Web (e.g., syllabi, out of class assignments)
incorporate use of Bulletin Board
identify classes and sequences of classes that could go on Web
identify support structures and peers already doing it
do pre-testing using Respondus on Web CT
identify and use online tutorials and activities
increase web-enhanced content of existing courses
enroll in the Regents' Online Teaching and Learning course
participate in Element K (an online teaching initiative funded by the Connecting Teachers and Technology initiative, with accounts available to selected support staff and faculty members across the University System of Georgia)
design assessment instruments for web-based instruction
provide departmental and institutional leadership in development of individual courses and programs (e.g., certificate programs) as online offering