| Conference Registration WebCT Homepage | |
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| Wednesday, July 12, 2006: 1:30 PM-2:15 PM | |||
| Mississippi Room (Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers) | |||
| C-10: Portals to Pastoralism: The Care and Nurture of Online Faculty | |||
| Detailed Description: | The use of nurturing online communities can facilitate learning and high levels of faculty interaction. This session will demonstrate this pastoral-style model in the context of the “Drury Experience,” the assessment which resulted in accreditation for online degree programs. Other online programs can emulate and benefit from the pastoral style to achieve higher levels of excellence, greater faculty and student retention, and increased levels of faculty satisfaction. | ||
| Presentation Format: | Showcase | ||
| Topic: | Empowering educators: Professional development models and methods | ||
| Target Audience: | E-learning Managers | ||
| Appropriate Audience Level: | Beginning or new users of WebCT, Experienced WebCT users | ||
| Abstract Text: | Faculty development poses distinct challenges and opportunities for the delivery of quality online education at any institution. Drury University is facing the same challenges that many other institutions face in providing for well trained adjunct faculty to meet the academic needs of the adult learner and the academic standards of the institution.The growth in DU's online program from 3 classes in 1999 to 85+ per semester currently requires ongoing faculty development to meet instructor staffing and academic assessment requirements. Coupling faculty development with the needs of the adult student has resulted in Drury's Online Education Program adopting a distinct pastoral style to nurture faculty that has increased faculty retention, garnered additional accreditation for online degrees, and achieved higher student outcome assessments because of this distinct style. This session will explore the components of a pastoral style for faculty development through a practical and experiential interactive session with a video enhancement that will demonstrate how other institutions can also adopt this nurturing environment. Some components of this style include interactive and supportive technological training, the incorporation of a community faculty listserv (“the Brain Trust”), and engaging faculty pedagogy sessions that bond the faculty to improve the quality of online courses. Other institutions can model this style to achieve similar faculty satisfaction/retention and higher student assessments. Drury's model of “there's always a human behind the computer” has provided the theme for this success.
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| Session Leader: | Gary Rader Drury University | ||
| Co-Presenter: | Tessa Melancon Drury University | ||
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