How well new technologies serve students throughout the state is likely, in part, to depend on whether these technologies offer sufficient breadth of coursework across disciplines, formats, and constituencies. However, the development of courses for delivery through synchronous or asynchronous technologies requires faculty time and effort. Each faculty member who developed a course in this program was given a semester release time. Also, the first time a faculty member taught the course on-line, that course constituted the faculty member's teaching load for the semester. Method of Delivery.
Most faculty are only familiar with the lecture format.
Teaching courses via instructional technologies requires faculty to develop new sets of skills and abilities. Each discipline and type of technology offers challenges in presenting the material and promoting student interaction and understanding. Faculty must also master the mechanics of technical equipment and related protocols. If colleges and universities are to rely more upon instructional technology in the delivery of distance education, faculty must commit themselves to becoming proficient in these new forms of instruction. Whether such effort is forthcoming will depend, in part, on the resources, incentives, and recognition extended related faculty development by institutions and disciplinary associations.