Instructional Development Skills and Competencies - Dissertation Example

? Instructional Development Skills and Competencies for Post-Secondary Faculty-Designers Developing Online s CHAPTER TWO: ADVANCING THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE BASE Introduction Online education offers convince and flexibility than the conventional classroom education. In addition it provides excellent learning experience while still pursuing other activities such as employment (Oliver, 2001). It has the capacity to transform education is the education material are integrated with technological development. Across the globe, many education institutions are offering both conventional courses as well as online courses. Several literatures exist on growth and development online education (Carroll and Burke, 2011) but there is limited study on the skills and competence of the faculty designers. Development and use of information and communication technology has brought significant changes in education sector especially distance and online education (Arinto, 2013). Uptake of Online courses has also been on increase due to its flexibility and convenience. However there exist a gap between course content development and delivery of the course content to the students, interaction of the involved students and use of technology. According the National Center for Educational Statistics, Universities and other higher institution offering has been on the rise (Carroll and Burke, 2011). Since 1990s education institutions have been taking advantage of development in use of internet and technology to supply their students with course materials in traditional face to face mode of learning as well as online courses. Students are also embracing the use of technology (Carroll and Burke, 2011). In the initial stages of online education involved only the course materials but this has changed over time and therefore the need for effective online education programmes. Recognizing the basic skills and competencies required for the faculty designers to develop online courses, including best practices and distinguishing features, could help to improve the quality of such courses. The online education practices ranging from use of technology, competence of the lectures, course materials and communication tools affects the outcome of the courses in different ways (Lee, Dickerson and Winslow, 2012). Instructional design theory will help in development of online education programmes that satisfy the needs of the students with references to psychological principles for student focused education system by American Psychological Association (APA). The competence of the tutors and course designers as well as best practices will ensure that the online education programmes meet the needs of the students as well as job market. Growth and development of online courses Uptake of online courses has been on increase since 1990s due to development of information and communication technology which is integrated with online application to ensure effective delivery of quality learning material and interaction of the lectures and concern student as well as other student across different geographical location. The teachers and the students through electronic media which in some cases is real time rather that meeting in conventional classrooms (Suarez-Brown at el, 2012). The online courses are flexible and accessible across the globe but they are faced with several challenges since the students interacts with the lectures in delivering the course content, delivering the tests and assignment, evaluation of students personal attributes and communication skills. Online courses allow the students to study while still on employment or internship which is a requirement for most courses thus providing a excellent opportunity for the students and the lecturers. The increase in the number of higher learning institutions offering online courses can be associated with its flexibility and accessibility, high success rate of online student compared to conventional classroom students and extensive marketing of online course to different categories of students such working people (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). In the years 1997 and 1998 about 44 percent of higher education institutions offered online or distance courses. By the year 2008, about 66 percent of higher education institutions offered distance and online learning courses. The number of public institutions offering online course are higher than private institutions. By the year 2008 about 89 percent of public higher education institutions in the United States of America were offering online education (Suarez-Brown at el, 2012). Similar sentiment has been echoed in a report on online education in United States of America on education (Allen and Seaman, 2011) that indicated that enrollment in online courses in private organization has been on the decline. There has been increase in the demand for online and distance learning in higher education institutions. A report by on online education programme in United States of America by Allen and Seaman (2007), indicates the has been increase in online courses admission in higher education institutions over the last several years and this trend is expected to continue. The growth in online courses enrollment is greater than the general enrollment in higher education institutions. This has give rise to the need for competence and skilled faculty designers (Salmon, 2004) to develop effective online courses. To meet the rising demand, universities and colleges has developed the online courses with prior sufficient research and the eminence of modern pedagogy has been undermined by lack of competent and skilled faculty designers. Current growth of online course is higher than the overall growth in the number of students enrolling for higher education. However this growth may not be sustainable in the long run as higher education institutions can only enroll specific number of students per year (Allen and Seaman, 2011). The growth may not be sustainable since unit course growth has been changing year after year. The dynamism of technology dictates that the organizations have to continuously invest in new technology. Essential aspects on online courses The major difference between the conventional classrooms courses and online course is use of technology to deliver the course content and learning activities by faculty and the students. Following aspects are associated with online courses. Pedagogy and technology The effectiveness of online course depends on the pedagogy as well as technology proficiency of the faculty (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Pedagogy is the art as well as science of education that help the lecturers develop and achieve course objectives. The course content posted through the electronic media must be in instructional design that provides a link between the course objectives with the learning activities and expected course outcome. Online education lack trained and experienced faculty in institutional design to come up with an effective online model. Faculty is a key factor of online course effectiveness (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The faculty is tasked with developing a model that delivers the required course content through learning activities that stimulates students, build up their skills and train the learners who can integrate the learnt skills in their workplaces. Student faculty interaction is key factor to effective training since the faculty act like the role model, consultant, assessor, team leader, planner and reference while the student is the leaner, writer, team member, mentor as well as the peer teacher. The multifaceted roles of the student and the faulty in a learning environment enhance the learning experience through discussion group, case studies, brain storming sessions, peer exchange and coaching (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). The greatest change of online education is to integrate all this learning activities in a virtual environment. By understanding the skills required and best practices in developing online courses, faculty designers who have limited skills and experiences will be able to develop an effective online course. Pedagogy is a key factor in the current education status where institutions are embracing online education course (Salmon, 2004). In addition, the faculty should endeavor to understand their present day students who are willing to embrace new technology that conventional students. Faculty plays a major role in the success of any program weather online or in regular classrooms since they develop the program, teach the students and assess the development of the students. Faculty designers and the lectures should be individuals who can easily change with the change in technology (Carroll and Burke, 2011). They should be interested in new technology developments that support the interaction with students. The other aspect of online education is technology. Technology is a key factor in emergent, development and delivery of online courses. The faculty must choose appropriate online platform and tools to enhance student-faculty interaction and choose a competent developer who will be able to integrate the course content to the platform. The developer must also provide the necessary support during the course delivery such as updating the course content, updating the platform, addressing the security issues and other student issues. The other issues in regard to technology is intellectual property and copyrights in regard to the online platform and course content (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Does the entire online platform belong to the institution, faculty member or the IT expert? This is more complex when different parties such as the lecturers, developers, graphic designers and the student are involved in developing the online course. Different skills and talent are required to develop an effective online course. Online course depend on the technological and pedagogy competence of the faculty. Technology and pedagogy are dynamic and therefore the need for continues training and learning to adopt to the current trends to ensure use of technology to effectively integrate learning activities that meet the objectives of the online course. Online courses are improvement of conventional classroom course to virtual environment. Both the online and conventional students should undertake similar learning activities. The faculty should effective interaction on a virtual environment. Institutional culture The success of online courses also depends on the institutional culture. Institutions that have decentralized decision making process can easily develop successful online courses due to their dynamic nature to take risks and embrace new technological development (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Consultative decision making process ensures that concerned faculty members are involved in development and improvement of online courses and thus creating a sense of ownership to the online projects. Faculty is the key determinants of the success of the online programmes. Faculty involvement is important especially if the course requires specific crediting. Other institution may opt to outsource their online course where the contracted vendor host and support the online platform, recruit the faculty and support staff, provide support services and recruitment process. This may not be profitable to the education institutions since and may result to conflict due to intellectual properties. The outsourced courses may not be fully integrated to the concerned organization (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). This may lower the effectiveness of the online course. It is necessary for centralized and rigid institutions to provide system that allows the faculty members to be involved in development of course content, learning activities and technological system that ensure the success of the online courses. Quality of the online course The course quality depends on the five major elements that are objective, adaptability, content, faculty and student support. Online course faculty designers must ensure the online students as well as the conventional classroom students have same training experiences (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Online course must adhere to the set quality standards in relation to the organizations and course goals and objectives. Online courses are convince and flexible than the conventional classroom course (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). An institution with both traditional and online courses enhances student diversity from regular undergraduate students to much older student who might be working. The organizational goals must be in line with the course’s objectives (Carroll and Burke, 2011). The course must also meet the institutional requirement and adapt to institutional teaching techniques and learning activities. The online course must ensure academic development of the student at specific timelines through regular assessment (Carroll and Burke, 2011). The online platform must have exams and assignment, facilitate discussions, allow interaction between the faculty and the student as well as interactions between the students and allow the students to post their feedback as well as comments. Effective faculty is relevant for success of online courses. The content of online and conventional setting is the same but the faculty must apply different teaching techniques to offer effective teaching. Faculty must understand the online platform and engage web designers and developers who offer the needed support (Carroll and Burke, 2011). Adequate equipment should be availed to the faculty to ensure they exploit their full potential. Online course involves interactions between student and the lecturers. Students also require effective technology to enhance their learning experience. Online or face to face orientation session is paramount for the new users of the online platform (Carroll and Burke, 2011). All the services offered by the university must be available online including the library, bookstores, admission requirements, enrollment process, student accounts, resources, financial aid and career services. Additional support must also be offered to the disadvantaged students such as disability to ensure fairness among all the students. This will also ensure equality among conventional classroom student and online students. Sufficient supports ensure that the online students are part of the entire student’s community. It also increases competitive advantage of the institution. Support The success of online course depend on the relationship faculty, student, IT experts as well other staff in the institutions such as administration and marketing staff who are tasked in support in the day to day operation of the institution including updating student records, developing time tables and course schedule and processing student applications and request. Student’s enrollment depends on the marketing strategy of the institution. Marketing team ensures that the target market is aware of the online courses. Online marketing could be appropriate for online courses (Carroll and Burke, 2011). Online marketing techniques include search optimization, placing adverts on third parties website that has high traffic and external links. However conventional marketing strategies such as advertising on media, emails and telemarketing should not be neglected. Telemarketing and emails can convert leads into applicants. The growth of online courses, advancement in information and communication technology, globalization, modernization and increasing competition among education institutions are key factors in development of online education. Challenges of developing online courses The students in both conventional classrooms as well as online receives same course material but the only difference is that in the later the course materials are offered in a virtual learning environment through use of information and communication technology. Just like in a normal classroom setting the learning experienced is enhanced by discussion with fellow students and other interactive sessions such as brain storming, case studies, peer exchange and coaching (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Instructional design The greatest change of online education is to integrate all this learning activities in a virtual environment. Pedagogy and technology are the most important factors in online courses (Salmon, 2004). Challenges facing online education include complex interactions between the student, faculty and peer students, faculty skills and adaption’s to changes, students’ disciplinary issues, high cost to the institutions among other challenges (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The greatest change of online education is to integrate all this learning activities that include interaction between the faculty and the students as well as between the students in a virtual environment. The interaction between the student, faculty and peer student helps to improve critical thinking of the students, understanding of the course content and ensure course reflection (Brindley, Walti and Blaschke, 2009). The online courses attract students from across the globe and their interactions are limited language barriers, different time zones, cultural barriers and different learning approaches. This is also a challenge to the lecturers who must engage all the student, evaluate learning development and meet the needs of each student regardless of their diversity and disabilities. There is need for further research to enhance the students-lecturers interaction (Chen, Barnett and Stephens, 2013). The faculty Faculty is key factor for the growth and effectiveness of online courses (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The difference between conventional classrooms and online course is use of technology to teaching the students and deliver learning material (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006) while ensuring that institutional goals are achieved (Carroll and Burke, 2011). The faculty must possess skills that enhance learning experience and ensure that all learning activities are integrated online (Carroll and Burke, 2011). In some cases the faculty lacks the competence to develop online course that are as effective as convention courses since their training did not include courses on use of modern technology. In some cases, higher education institutions may opt to outsource the online education platform rather that developing their platform. The faculty may resist the outsourced platform lowering its effectiveness faculty satisfaction due to low (Oblinger and Hawkins, 2006). Faculty satisfaction is affected by competence and personal achievements, student’s behaviors and diversity as well as institutional factor such as institutional structures, work load and motivation (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The faculty creates, develop, implement and manage course content. However, most of them lack the required skills to effectively integrate the course content online. There are recognized no standard qualification and competence for the faculty designer in online education. This hinders the effectiveness of online courses. Students’ issues Any education system must meet the needs of their student. Student must understand the course content as well as the technology. An institution offering online studies attract students from across the globe who posses different cultural practices, different time zones and have been trained under different education systems (Brindley, Walti and Blaschke, 2009). The institutions and faculty members must understand their students diversity and facility interactions between all the students to create an excellent learning opportunities. Student satisfactions vary from one student to another depending on the learning experiences (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). Students’ satisfaction in online learning is influenced by the lecturer, technology and interactions, communication channels, management issues and course platforms. Hindrances to student satisfaction include management and administration, academic skills and education system, personal attributes, interactions with other students, access to resources and other services offered by the university, time management and technology. Student and faculty satisfaction are related (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). According to Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) lack of discipline is another challenge of facing online course. There is no direct interaction between the faculty and the students. There is also high possibility of exam cheating (Chen, Barnett and Stephens, 2013) since exams are undertaken online. Institutions have opted for students to travel to exam centers but this have received objections due to cost of travelling and time limitations. There are proposal to mitigate exam cheating through cameras and mouse tracking software as well as typing style detecting system. Several studies have indicated that exam cheating and plagiarism may not be detected. Cost Development of online course requires a lot of resources in terms of cost and staff (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The online course might be convenience for the students but costly for the organization (Chen, Barnett and Stephens, 2013). Institutions venturing into online courses must evaluate the cost (Morgan, n.d.). Both conventional classrooms and online platform has its own cost. Investment in new and dynamic technology is expensive. The costs associated with online education include initial capital of developing the content, acquiring the online platform and integrating all the necessary information into the platform. In addition there is maintenance cost, recruitment of new staff, production cost and delivery cost. The maintenance cost may vary overtime and include support cost, faculty training cost, administration cost and teaching cost (Morgan, n.d.). The institution must also purchase an excellent serve that is compatible with their online system and can support the constant traffic to their website. Other costs include computer systems for the faculty, human resources, office, telephone cost and hosting cost. Instructional design theory Education system should be learner focused. Instructional design is a research based learning theory that indicates conditions for development, improvement, execution, assessment as well as supervision of learning environments, activities and resources that ensure effective learning of in any organization (Whitmyer, 1999). The major types of instructional theories include instructional-event theory, instructional analysis theory, instructional planning theory, instructional building theory, instructional implementation theory and instructional evaluation theory (Reigeluth and Carr-chellman, 2009). Instructional Design entails recognizing the need of the students, understanding the framework of the need in relation to institutional missions, resources and skills, designing the instructions to meet the existing needs, developing the content and activities to issue the instruction and evaluating the success and learning outcome (Whitmyer, 1999). The student focused instructional design changes from the traditional linear model into circular model where the needs of the learners are recognized and analyzed prior to the coming up with the instructions and methods of delivering the instructions (Melsom, 2010). Higher education institutions have overcome geographical barriers through online education as a result universities and colleges attract students from across the globe (Brindley, Walti and Blaschke, 2009). The student diversity differs in terms of nationality, religion, cultural background, gender and education system (Melsom, 2010). This diversity leads to needs diversity among the students. In addition need diversity, the faculty designers should consider other factors such as personal attributes, learning activities and students feedback when developing an online course. The course should meet the learners as well as organizational objectives. Instructional theory offer a simplified guide to development of online course through several aspects namely development of the instructions, analysis of instructions, designing the methods, development of the system, implementation and evaluating the outcome (Whitmyer, 1999). Similar core elements have been supported by Melsom (2010). The model is centered on the attributes of the learners as well as their diversity. Psychological principles of learner-centered paradigm Previous studies indicate that faculty members and faculty designers are not sufficiently trained to design an efficient instructional online course model (Chang and Smith, 2008). The American Psychological Association (APA) with principles of learner focused education system. Effective promote education system should focus on different attributes of the learners such as cultural diversity, prior education systems, backgrounds, skills, capacities and talent (Brindley, Walti and Blaschke, 2009), (Melsom, 2010) and (Chang and Smith, 2008). In addition, the principles also focus on the content as well as methods of learning. Faculty designers should consider the psychological principles when developing an online course. These principles include the characteristics of learning activities during the course training, the objectives of the courses, developing of the content, critical thinking, analysis, learning framework, personal attributes that affect learning, ability to learn, affects of personal attributes on the effort to learn, influence of development to learning , social and group influence in learning, learners diversity in learning environment, learning activities and diversity and acceptable standards as well as learners’ assessment (Chang and Smith, 2008), (Reigeluth and Carr-chellman, 2009) and (Watson and Reigeluth, 2008) . The learner focused learning system ensures that the needs of two most important aspects of online educations are met. The two major aspects are students and faculty (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). The needs of the learners are met, the faculty gains the required experience and competence while the institutional goals are met (Chang and Smith, 2008). Additionally, the system allows flexibility in terms of time and location, student’s weakness and strengths are evaluated, enhances student- faculty as well as student-student interactions while as the academic development of the student is assessed from time to time. The learners are involved in the developing of the training programme, their needs and diversity are respected and are regarded as stakeholders in the learning activities (Watson and Reigeluth, 2008). The outcome of the learner focused courses is highly qualified learners and quality research. Implication Faculty designers are in developing, implementation and evaluation of an online course. Understand the important aspects of online course such as technology, pedagogy, students and learning materials helps the faculty designer develop ways of integrating all this aspects in a virtual environment. Instructional design theory and The American Psychological Association principles can help to develop a learning system that is learner focused. The basis for effective online courses is understanding the diverse needs of their learners and satisfy this need in a virtual environment that support interaction of the student and their instructors. A learner focused programme fulfils the goals of the learners, faculty as well as institution. Skilled and non skilled faculty can be able development an effective system with Instructional design theory and The American Psychological Association principles as reference points. Conclusion Online course has achieved substantial growth since 1990s due to advancement in information and communication technology, its flexibility, accessibility and convenience, globalization and need to advance in education. Most institutions offer both conventional courses as well as online courses. Enrollment of online course in public higher education institutions is higher than in private institutions. Some institutions offer free online courses but the students have to invest in technology. Online course are offered in virtual environment where the course content and learning activities are integrated into an online platform. Despite the continues growth in online education, the education system has encountered several challenges including acceptance by the faculty, lack of competent and well trained faculty designers, student indiscipline and exam cheating, access to resources as well as cost issues(Chen, Barnett and Stephens, 2013). Content materials and technology are dynamic and therefore need to be updated regularly. In addition students do not interact face to face with their peers as well as their lecturers. Understanding the skill required by the faculty designers as well as the lectures can help in improvement on the online courses. The online courses should be focused on the needs of the students who are the main beneficiaries. Instructional design theory as well as The American Psychological Association principles can help the faculty designers develop and education system that is focused on the needs of the student. As a result the students will be satisfied, faculty will gain the necessary skills and the institution will meet its goals and objectives (Chang and Smith, 2008). CHAPTER 3: CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PROPOSED STUDY TO THE FIELD Introduction Competence of the faculty designers is a major challenge to the designing and development of effective online course (Bolliger and Wasilik, 2009). Instructional design theory is focused on the needs of different students. The study will provide useful information that can be used by the faculty designers without prior training and experience in designing and development of effective online courses. In most case the designers take into consideration factors like limitation in time, constrained institution’s resources, available skills and the characteristics of online platform without considering its students. Instructional design theory and online course Instructional event theory aspect is concerned with the content and instruction (Reigeluth and Carr-chellman, 2009). Instructional theory focuses on education reforms. As discussed in the previous chapter, online course attract students from across the globe. The students have different learning abilities, they have undergone through different learning styles have different background, gender as well as physical abilities (Brindley, Walti and Blaschke, 2009), (Melsom, 2010) and (Chang and Smith, 2008). Effective education system should provide equal opportunities to its entire student’s team by meeting the needs of all the student through different learning activities. Instructional design theory as well as The American Psychological Association principles ensures designing and development learners focused on line courses. They offer an opportunity for collaborative and active learning. Other theories related to Instructional design theory in improvement of online courses include student-assessment design theory for evaluating learners, curriculum design theory of the learning content, learning theory that analyses the learning activities and learning Sciences (Reigeluth and Carr-chellman, 2009). The above theories are paramount in the designing and development of online courses. Further studies on these theories are necessary to provide additional information on the faculty members who are assigned the responsibility of developing online courses. This study will shed more light on the guiding principles of online courses. The learning outcomes and the effectiveness of the student will provide an evaluation benchmark. Implementation of instructional design theory and The American Psychological Association principles will enhance interactions during the learning process thus ensuring the online students have same leaning experiences as students in conventional class rooms. In general the proposed study will provide necessary information in online faculty design. Online courses contribute to increase in uptake among the old students, working population and people in remote areas. The government of United States America has been promoting online courses enrollment to ensure its entire population has access to quality education. Contribution to existing theories Several theories exist on the development and reform of education. These theories act as a guide to developing interactive and collaborative education system that incorporates all stakeholders in education including instructors, learners and institutions (Watson and Reigeluth, 2008). The greatest advantage of the instructional design theory is that experiences as well as inexperienced designers can easily understand and design an online course (Melsom, 2010). However, there are no specific theories for online course and the faculty designers can only use the existing education theories as guiding principles. According to Anderson (2008), there is no specific learner focused theory for online education. The specific guiding principles that are important in the designing and development of online courses are also missing. The information from this study will provide insightful information that could lead to development of online learning theory and principles that help in developing and designing online systems. The new principles should take into consideration factors such as time limitations, skills and learning environment (Melsom, 2010). Online courses differ from conventional course in the methods of delivering the course content. This study will provide necessary information for advancement of these theories. Faculty developers require skills and competence necessary for online course development. The study results from the study will be analyzed and methodology examined to ensure the study has an impact on the effectiveness of faculty designers. Conclusion The results of this study will contribute valuable information to the improvement of instructional design theory, other related theories and psychological principles. The study will provide information on the improvement of instructional theories. The will analyze skills, competences and best practices for faculty designers in online course. Competent faculty designers will be able to development effective platforms that will meet the needs of the student. References Allen I. E. and Seaman J. (2007). Online nation: Five years of growth in online learning. The Sloan Consortium Allen I. E. and Seaman J. 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