Workshop Proceedings of International Conference on E-Learning and Games, April 17-19, 2006, Hangzhou, China Improving Professional Development for Teaching Online Baiyun Chen, Dale Voorhees, and Devon Weaver Rein Abstract —It is believed that faculty in higher education should go through professional development programs before they begin to teach online. This paper reports evaluation data from an online faculty training course at a southeastern university in the U.S. to illustrate key elements of a high- quality web training program and the educators’ learning experience. Recommendations are posited to revise the course design to remove the barriers of professional development and better facilitate mastery of necessary knowledge and skills in an online environment. Index Terms — professional development, online learning, online teaching, survey. 1 I. INTRODUCTION ITH the advancement of computer and network technologies, online learning is entering the mainstream in higher education. According to the latest survey conducted on the state of online learning at the U.S.’s higher-education institutions [1, 2], nearly two-thirds of all colleges and universities that deliver face-to-face instruction now offer online instruction, and last year’s enrollment in online courses reached 2.35 million, up nearly 20 percent over the 2003 figures. Positive aspects of web teaching include structure and time convenience, increased student outreach and contact, personal satisfaction, availability of expanded research tools, improved course management, and the ability to learn new technologies [3]. As a result of the institutional promotion and students’ needs, educators are required to master new teaching strategies and technology skills to facilitate successful online classes. The research question of this paper is: “Are they making a smooth transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching?” Unfortunately, research has shown that barriers to teaching and learning at a distance often impede faculty from adapting to new educational opportunities. These barriers include variables such as: technical expertise, social interaction and quality, administrative structure, organizational change, faculty compensation and time, attitudes toward technology, legal issues, evaluation, effectiveness, access, and student support services [4]. To remove the aforementioned barriers, there is a need to 1 B. Chen is with the University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 USA (e-mail: baiyun@ mail.ucf.edu). D. Voorhees is the Assistant Director of the Course Development and Web Services, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 USA (e-mail: dvorhees@ mail.ucf.edu) D. Rein is the instructional designer at the University of Central Florida. Orlando, FL 32826 USA (e-mail: drein@ mail.ucf.edu) offer faculty opportunities to gain such skills and knowledge at both basic and advanced levels [5, 6]. Research has recommended that successful professional development programs have the following characteristics [7-10]. First, the targeted skill and knowledge should be used by educators right away and should be related to a current project. Second, the professional development activities should have built-in follow-up procedures. Third, educators should be presented with training activities that meet their adult learning styles. Moreover, as time is usually limited for faculty, the course should be designed in an appropriate format and be able to fit into their busy schedule. Another important factor is the availability of a technology facilitator to assist faculty when necessary. These factors need to be considered in setting up an online professional development program in the higher education environment. II. COURSE OVERVIEW Learning online has become an important initiative at a southeastern university in the U.S. since the late 1990s. The Course Development & Web Services (CD&WS) unit at this university collaborates with other units, such as the Library, Computer Services and Office of Instructional Resources to offer services to improve the quality of teaching and online learning at the university. CD&WS has set up a professional development program to provide training and resources to the university faculty who teach online, aspire to teach online, or are interested in teaching with technology. Before faculty start their online journey, they are required to take courses, either face-to-face or web-based, to get acquainted with the various instructional technologies and specific online teaching strategies that they will apply in online teaching. “Essentials - A Foundation for Teaching Online” is a fundamental training course offered on online teaching by CD&WS. It is a self-paced online training course designed to ensure that novice web educators possess the knowledge required to develop and deliver a web-enhanced course. The objectives of the course are to teach faculty basic web course design skills, and offer them a safe web environment to practice related technology skills. It contains reading materials to enhance learners’ knowledge base and one virtual lab where faculty can practice and finish lab projects. The module contents offer the faculty an overview of the university technology framework, and prerequisites and basic skills recommended for teaching online. After successfully finishing the module and quiz, the faculty needs to log in to a practice online account and maintain a real web course in a simulated environment. This course has been offered on the Internet for faculty who need to teach online in this southeastern university since August, 2002. Up until October 12, 2005, 354 faculty members from 8 schools and departments of the university had W