Amy Jo Swing Online Faculty Development Coordinator A Creative Approach to Online Excellence

LSC’s Online Journey First online class in 1996 Currently about 30% of credits are online (471 FYE in 2013, 4190 students unduplicated) Began LSC Online Peer Review in 2004 (based on FIPSE Maryland Online project) over 20 peer reviewers and 70+ course reviewed, did statewide workshops/trainings Created our Administrative Online Eval tool in 2010 Joined QM in 2012 Had first LSC course QM evaluated in 2013 Decided to revise our current peer review process in 2013

Reviving Online Programs Takes a Village In , many faculty, staff, and administrators worked together to revitalize LSC’s online program OPAC: Online Programs Advisory Committee and OPAC Subcommittee on Faculty Development AQIP team on Comprehensive Teacher Training Open forums on Quality Matters and other online topics Online Peer Review Workgroup eCampus team (faculty, administration, IT, student services) All these discussions and work led to a presentation to the AC (Administrative Council) in January 2014

LSC’s 3-part Quality Plan Part One: Administrative Tool for Evaluating Online Courses Developed by faculty and dean in 2010 Implemented in 2011 Part Two: Comprehensive Online Instructor Training Includes online teaching pedagogy and specific IMS training Eventually will be modular training, both hybrid and online Part Three: Online Peer Review For continuous quality control and improvement To have instructors learn from each other while improving courses Lake Superior College Program for Online Excellence in Teaching (POET™).

Research Based: Sloan Consortium: Sharing Effective Practices A non-profit U.S. consortium of institutions and organizations committed to sharing effective e-learning practices: Report: “ Five Pillars of Quality Online Education ” - Research-based, 40 experts consulted

6 Five Pillars of Quality Online Education Adapted from Sloan-C effective practices: Student satisfaction Scale (Institutional cost Effectiveness) Learning effectiveness Access Faculty satisfaction QUALITY

“Implementing Best Practices in Online Learning” Study from: Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness (A-HEC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to research into innovation, transformation, and effectiveness in higher education.

Online Administrative Evaluation Lake Superior College full-time faculty evaluated every three years by deans (probationary and adjunct faculty evaluated every year) Evaluation process and rubric designed for on-ground classroom evaluations Many deans had no experience teaching or taking online classes In 2010, a team of online faculty led by the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences revised the faculty evaluation rubric to fit online teaching and learning best practices Faculty can choose an on-ground or online class for observation Online Evaluation is simpler and more reflective of online teaching See rubric at: evaluation-rubric/ evaluation-rubric/

Online Teacher Training History of training for online instructors has varied greatly since 1997 Did week long workshops in summer Did fully online training Did one-on-one training with Instructional Tech. Began comprehensive online training Summer 2012 Started AQIP project on Comprehensive Teacher Training Fall 2012 Recommending new model of training for online instructors both new and experienced Much research suggests student success is affected by both course design and the quality of instruction Quality Tied to Instructors

Future for Online Teacher Training Pre-beginning training: short workshops for faculty who have never taught online and are unsure of technology skills Beginning training: comprehensive training, focusing on developing a hybrid or fully online class, includes online teaching pedagogy, best practices, planning, LSM training, and mentoring May be done modular: one unit on teaching, unit on LMS, and then training specific to faculty/discipline needs Advanced training: course remodel Experienced faculty working in hybrid cohort to redo their outdated online classes Semester or year long program Faculty may earn badges for completion of these levels of training: beginning, online instructor, master online teachers, etc. Ideas are still in process; AQIP team still meeting

Online Peer Review Revising former peer review rubric and process Went from 8 sections to 6, 32 standards to 36 Changed points system to met/not met essential standards and other best practices (23 met/13 BP) Integrated best practices in online teaching with online course design Lowered stipend for lead reviewer from $300 to $150 5 reviews will be led by Peer Review Coordinator/semester Still faculty led and driven, no administrative oversight The 3 Cs: Collegiality, Collaboration, Credibility

Online Peer Review Materials and processes will be updated frequently Can access materials freely at: Will be revising and changing continually If you use our materials, please just credit us (and Maryland Online FIPSE) and let us know!

Conclusions Excellence in a online program needs input from all: faculty, administration, IT, student services, students Excellence in online education means looking at both online teaching and technology/course design (research) Excellence includes creating a program that fits your institution's needs and is sustainable Excellence includes continuous improvement and sharing:

Amy Jo Swing English Instructor and Online Faculty Development Coordinator Lake Superior College Duluth, Minnesota Evaluation link: