Louisiana State University: Nursing Faculty to Online Health
Although plenty of anecdotal information is available on students’ perspectives
on online education, information on how to manage faculty members’ transition
to online instruction is scarce, especially for professional schools and small
colleges and universities.
To be able to effectively offer courses online, a faculty must be both inspired
and guided. Unfortunately, technology is often installed before an understanding
of the system itself occurs.
At Louisiana State University, the School of Nursing tacked this problem, aiming
to maintain high standards of teaching while moving toward next generation learning
resources, such as online teaching software and World Wide Web applications.
As a first step, course objectives on using the Internet were incorporated
into syllabi in all academic levels. Two major projects were started to ease
the use of the Web in course instruction: First, an online teaching application
was purchased from WebCT. Second, a Distance Education Committee (DEC) was established,
composed of the Associate Dean for Community Services, the top computer support
person, and volunteer faculty members.
The DEC’s main task was twofold: to develop strategies to support faculty
in online teaching, and to recommend policies related to distance education.
The DEC meets every month and invites all department heads to share insights
into how the transition is progressing. The DEC also remains in close contact
with the Curriculum and Education committees of the school.
The school’s computer staff also provided a series of volunteer workshops
to introduce the faculty to WebCT and its features. The faculty started sharing
their experiences as the first WebCT course was offered. The administration,
aware that hiring a full-time Web master would ease the technical difficulty
of putting courses online, is now studying the financial requirements of adding
the position. In the interim, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs has reallocated
teaching responsibilities for two faculty members to become Web facilitators
for the faculty.
Information identifying a faculty member’s needs in going online is generally
scarce. That’s partly because each school uses different technology, but
also because the technology itself is often changing rapidly. In its case, the
School of Nursing began by identifying the most pressing needs of its faculty
before they could make the transition to online. This was to get them acquainted
on how WebCT works, to have hands-on experience on how to upload courses on
WebCT, and to have a resource center where faculty could easily seek out information
about online teaching.
It was also important that faculty be aware of the need to reformat their course
structure if they wished to involve the Internet in their teaching. At the onset,
we discouraged faculty from merely uploading their courses on the Web without
first determining if their course objectives would be affected.
Reactions from the faculty to online teaching have been mixed. Some approached
the use of technology as a waste of time and resources. Others looked at it
as a challenge. They were willing to spend time and energy to place their courses
online. Still others hoped someone else would take full responsibility. We have
observed, however, that a faculty member’s individual reaction is often
directly related to their knowledge of computer usage.
There are several steps involved in converting files to HTML and uploading
them to WebCT, all of which requires a good deal of time. Because of this, the
faculty has constantly asked to have a Web master in the school. While it is
prudent to have a technical person on standby, this should not stall efforts
to use the Web as a medium for instruction. At LSU, the technical staff has
agreed to be Web facilitators temporarily to assist faculty in their transition
to online teaching.
The use of the Web in course instruction presents a special challenge to nursing,
which is considered a practice discipline. Many of the faculty may be resistant,
or even reluctant, to adopt this technology because of a belief that practice
disciplines entail teaching skills rather than knowledge. However, creative
ways can be devised to allow the practice component of nursing to be assumed
by collaborating with nurses in the community where students reside. This is
one option that may be elaborated on further should a school decide to incorporate
courses that are entirely Web-based.
Introducing new teaching strategies is a major challenge that affects everyone.
Since classroom teaching has been long accepted as the “norm” for
instruction, there will be resistance as soon as changes are introduced. It
will take time to integrate these changes within a pedagogical method. But with
time, the benefits of using the Internet in course instruction will speak for
itself. Based on the experience of the School of Nursing, a successful transition
in online teaching must include constant communication, prompt assistance, and
empathy when assisting a faculty member with this new task.
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Strategies for
Training Online Faculty
1. Workshop
A series of three
one-hour WebCT workshops were offered to all faculty. To allow hands-on
experience, all workshops were offered in the computer lab. To accommodate
as many faculty as possible, each series was offered both in the morning
and afternoon.
Each attendee was
given access to a WebCT course so that they could orient themselves and
manipulate its features. The workshops were designed so that the first
one was simple to understand and only talked about the general features
of WebCT. The third workshop of the series required them to perform hands-on
exercises, such as uploading PowerPoint files to WebCT and participating
in threaded discussions. All attendees were provided packets that contained
instructions on every exercise that was performed. Articles dealing with
pedagogical principles in online instruction were also shared. On the
last of the series, two of the faculty members most experienced on WebCT
were asked to give advice on how to facilitate online instruction and
to avoid pitfalls when using WebCT.
2. Help Page
A personalized WebCT
Help desk was developed to offer faculty assistance with commonly performed
WebCT tasks. It was titled, “Learning How to Use WebCT”, and
is available to all faculty once they access their WebCT. The Help Page
contains workshop handouts as well as updated information on WebCT and
distance learning. In addition, faculty were told WebCT also offers support
in its help center. WebCT’s monthly newsletter is also circulated
via e-mail to all faculty who are involved in WebCT.
3. Brown Bag
After the workshops
were offered and the WebCT Help page was created, an hour was allotted
every month for informal faculty meetings to share experiences using WebCT.
The main goal of the brown bag lunches was to provide a forum for faculty
to communicate best practices for teaching online.
4. Individual Support
Individual support
was provided to faculty who sought assistance. While some faculty chose
to meet in their personal office space, others chose to e-mail or telephone
questions as they arose. The faculty’s perceptions of individual
assistance were varied, as some expected the technical team would upload
and design courses they were teaching. Others understood individual assistance
was only for troubleshooting. The Associate Dean for Community Services
handled requests of individual assistance to ensure each faculty-support
person did not have too much scheduled at one time. A tally was created
for the hours devoted to individual faculty assistance, which will be
evaluated at the end of the school year to decide whether to adjust the
number of support people.
5. Distance Education
E-mail Communique
A distance education
e-mail communiqué was attempted to update faculty on interesting
points about distance learning. Resources included nursing, technology
and education journals as well as professional organizations, including
the U.S. Department of Education, Distance Education at Postsecondary
Education Institutions, Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education
and Training Council, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing,
and the American Nurses Association.
6. Web Library
A distance education
library was also created in the School of Nursing. It consists of resources
and references on distance education in nursing, and includes a copy of
the WebCT series workshop handouts. The Web library has a number professional
policy reports on distance education, including the National Association
of State Boards of Education’s policy on e- learning, the National
Center for Education Statistics Report on Higher Ed and Technology, and
the Regional Accreditations Commission report for evaluation of electronically
offered degree and certificate programs.
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