A digital media file, such as a pre-recorded lecture or video, which is distributed over the Internet.
Published in Chapter:
The Benefits for Faculty Teaching in Online and F2F Environments
Alicia Russell (Northeastern University, USA) and Cathleen McCarron (Middlesex Community College, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 8
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-198-8.ch024
Abstract
A growing number of faculty teach courses online in addition to teaching traditional face-to-face (F2F) classes. Faculty developing course materials for both environments find they are investing more time learning about how students learn. Learning to teach online can be time consuming (Stern, 2004), and achieving mastery in both modes is quite demanding. To teach effectively in both environments, instructors must think about how to improve student learning outcomes irrespective of the particular setting. Skills needed to help ensure good student learning include the following: selecting effective and emerging pedagogical methods; drafting clear, written materials for students; designing activities that foster active learning; and using principles of sound instructional design, such as the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation; Dick & Carey, 1978). Faculty who begin their careers in the classroom are refashioning their optimal teaching methods from the F2F environment for use in online courses. As these faculty gain experience online, they often turn the strategy around, refashioning methods that succeed in the online environment to enhance their F2F instruction. For instance, faculty can integrate innovative online activities into traditional courses. (McQuiggan, 2007) The overall process is akin, both in its challenges and benefits, to mastering a foreign language. What results from this synergistic process is more versatile educators who are able to reach students—and more fully realize their own potential as teachers—by using complementary modes of instruction that interanimate each other.