| Higher Education Course Migration from F2F to Online Instruction: Problems for Instructors |
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Reflection #7 - Some Final Thoughts on Lessons Learned Now that I have come to the end of this project, I can't really find an end that is satisfactory. What I was hoping to accomplish was to develop some kind of design template that could overlay any given institution's set of faculty needs and guide the design process to a satisfactory outcome that would meet the course migration needs of DE faculty. I probed the literature, I toyed with the models, I tugged here and pushed there, and I could never get the thing to take a shape that would even come close to a representation of a design template. Maybe the issues are too complex, or more likely, the options for solution are too diverse to conform to a single template. Anyway, I must now give some thought to what I did accomplish. I have acquired a strong familiarity with the literature. I haven't read everything, but I have read alot. I recognize names that I can associate with particular research interests and areas of expertise, and know something about thematic issues among the journals. I was surprised, for example, that only one journal, the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, actually gave significant attention to the issues of faculty motivation. It's probably like that across journals, that is, each acquires a set of thematic concerns or pet issues that distinguishes it among the others. I don't know that for sure, but it's something to look for. I think I have developed a reasonably firm grasp on the issues of course migration - F2F to online -- as they apply to DE faculty, even if I don't have a lot glib or clever solutions. I may not be an expert, but I can at least converse intelligently about these things and ponder possible solutions. The main thing is adequate assessment up front. Having looked at dozens of DE programs on the Web, it is clear that there is a wide range of possibilities for DE that often hinge on peculiar, if not altogether unique, attributes and circumstances that give shape to institutional individuality. Faculty needs, then, would participate in those defining characteristics in ways that go beyond generic assessment and concommitant solution sets. Needs assessment on a case by case basis is the only way; there are no reliable shortcuts. I have also come to the conclusion that there is a lot of mediocre, if not outright bad, online instruction going on out there. Most often, I think, faculty are adrift and may be completely unaware of instructional deficiencies. They do the best they can with what they've got, and I admire them for having the chutzpah to take it on. Still, the marketplace is soon likely to impose competitive demands that will essentially raise the bar for quality online instruction, and many schools will fall short unless they undertake some serious re-assessment. That may translate into some job opeings for us edtech folks. That's the bottom line for me -- the opportunity to take what I have learned from this project and turn it into some real, concrete, application of assessment and design that will represent a serious upgrade for some school somewhere and give me a chance to make a contribution while putting that school on the map for having really good DE. So that's my next task: take this M.Ed. that has owned my life for the last couple of years and hit the job market...looking for that niche where I can make a difference...Wish me luck. dw
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