Faculty Transitions to Online Instruction: A Qualitative Case Study

The introduction of technological tools has created a paradigm shift in the field of education. As such, online learning has become a popular method for students to access educational courses. Due to the increased demand by learners for online classes, administrators at American institutions of higher learning are faced with the challenge of moving faculty members to an online environment. However, transitioning to an online environment requires a role change for faculty members. Specifically, faculty members must shift their instructional methods from on-ground lecturer to online mentor, which can be challenging. Indeed, many faculty members transition to online instruction without the necessary training, support, or skills needed to be successful. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to develop a better understanding of how higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format. Participants included nine faculty members, representing different colleges and universities, who teach at post-secondary institutions within the United States. Participants had taught face-toface classes for one year or more, and had taught at least three classes using an online format. An in-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interview format was used to gather data. The data provided by the participating faculty members were collected, coded using a line-by-line format, and the codes were compared to one another with the goal of finding a pattern. The development of conceptual categories and data analysis continued until saturation was achieved. Based on the data analysis, transforming was the conceptual theme for how higher education faculty members transition from a faceto-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format. Faculty Transitions to Online Instruction: A Qualitative Case Study Introduction Online learning refers to a method of learning that uses technological tools (Moule, Ward, & Lockyer, 2011) while connected to the Internet and includes the incorporation of devices (e.g., iPads, Clickers) and Internet websites (e.g., YouTube, Podcasts, Blackboard, WebEx) to enhance learning (Rollag & Billsberry, 2012) and to share information (Moule et al., 2011). Online learning has grown tremendously over the past few decades (Jandric, 2012) resulting in changes in how students learn (Schubert-Irastorza & Fabry, 2011) by affecting how they access information, collaborate, and communicate (Marais, 2010; Siemens & Canole, 2011). Not surprisingly, technological tools, not limited to Web 2.0, social networking sites, cloud computing, and wikis (Namdev, 2012) and those mentioned above, have presented new opportunities for higher education institutions (Schulte, 2010) and online learning has become a viable option for many students (Kerr, 2011). In fact, as of 2011, there were more than 6.7 million learners enrolled in at least one online class (Allen & Seaman, 2013), and enrollment in online classes continues to grow (Hoskins, 2011) creating a need for more faculty members to teach online (Schubert-Irastorza & Fabry, 2011) and prompting administrators to encourage faculty to move into the online teaching environment (Buckenmeyer, Hixon, Barczyk, & Feldman, 2011). The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, July 2016 Volume 4, Issue 3 www.tojdel. net Copyright © The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning 42 In the United States approximately 300,000 faculty members teach classes using an online format (Mayadas, Bourne, & Bacsich, 2009). Teaching online requires faculty to shift their thinking and manner of instruction from lecturing to mentorship (Bair & Bair, 2011). This shift requires a change in roles (Tripple, 2010) and may leave faculty feeling unprepared to teach online (Bair & Bair, 2011). Although researchers have emphasized the importance of faculty receiving training when shifting from face-to-face to online teaching (Batts, Pagliari, Mallett, & McFadden, 2010), faculty continue to move to the online teaching environment not fully prepared (Allen & Seaman, 2012; Schubert-Irastorza & Fabry, 2011) making it critical for administrators and faculty to understand how to complete the transition to online instruction. Despite the existence of online best practices, faculty members continue to experience difficulties transitioning to online teaching. Indeed, post-secondary administrators do not have sufficient information about the skills faculty need for transitioning to online instruction and as a result administrators cannot design effective support and training programs (Buckenmeyer et al., 2011). Moreover, when faculty members experience a poor transition to online instruction, adverse consequences exist for students, including inadequate communication from the student to the instructor (Beebe, Vonderwell, & Boboc, 2010) and poor feedback to improve learning (Jordan, 2012). Thus a better understanding of how instructors transition was necessary to improve faculty training methods and in turn improve student learning experiences. Methodology The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to develop a better understanding of how higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format so as to obtain an improved understanding of the training needs of faculty members who are transitioning from a traditional mode of teaching to an online platform. Transitioning between the two instructional environments can be challenging for some instructors (Barrett, 2010) and this study explored how higher education faculty members made the transition. An in-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interview format was used to gather data. Participant responses to the interview questions yielded data that, after analysis, answered the following research question: How do higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format? Within the context of this research question, a better understanding of the needs of faculty to successfully navigate this transition process was obtained. Data Collection Snowball sampling (i.e., one participant refers a researcher to the next participant and so forth [Tabak, Khoong, Chambers, & Brownson, 2013]) was used to recruit participants. A diverse group of nine participants from various colleges and universities across the United States participated in semi-structured interviews conducted via phone or Skype. Materials The data presented within this manuscript represents data collected as part of a larger study that included the administration of a 10-question interview protocol. For this manuscript only data from three of the 10 interview questions were analyzed: 1. What were your experiences transitioning from a face-to-face teaching environment to an online teaching environment? 2. Do you feel there were any skills you lacked that might have helped you make the transition to online instruction? The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, July 2016 Volume 4, Issue 3 www.tojdel. net Copyright © The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning 43 3. What skills from the face-to-face instructional environment do you think transferred directly to teaching effectively in the online instructional environment? The interview was conducted in a semi-structured manner and follow-up questions were asked when appropriate. Participants While nine faculty members were interviewed, only eight of the interviews were recorded (due to a technological failure) and therefore only data from eight of the nine participants was analyzed. Participants were between the ages of 41 and 64; one participant was male and seven were female; and all participants had taught face-to-face for a minimum of eight years and online for a minimum of four years. Table 1 contains the demographic data of all the participants. Data Processing & Analysis Participation in the study was completely voluntary and participants did not receive any compensation for their participation. Participants were given the option to be interviewed via telephone or Skype and 4 opted to be interviewed via Skype and 6 opted to be interviewed by telephone. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. However, technological difficulties prevented the interview for Participant 9 from being recorded; thus, data from only eight participants were used to answer the research questions (this was sufficient to reach saturation). Each participant was asked 10 interview questions and the responses to three of these interview questions yielded data that were analyzed, coded, and memoed [sic] to identify emergent themes using data analysis resembling grounded theory data analysis procedures (which is appropriate for case study; Yin 2014) to answer the research question How do higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format? Within the context of this research question, a better understanding of the needs of faculty to successfully navigate this transition process was obtained and several themes emerged from the data. Results There was one overriding conceptual theme that was generated from the analysis of the data regarding how instructors transition from face-to-face instruction to online instruction: Transforming. Transforming is comprised of two descriptive categories supported by subthemes (see Figure 1). The two descriptive categories were Knowledge Acquisition and Experiential Learning. Within the descriptive category of Knowledge Acquisition, the following subthemes were identified: 1) technology, 2) best practices, 3) subject specific, and 4) mentoring. The second descriptive category of Experiential Learning yielded the following two subthemes: 1) mirroring, and 2) overcoming challenges. Tra