THE IMPACT OF ONLINE TEACHING ON HIGHER …

[Pages:281]THE IMPACT OF ONLINE TEACHING ON HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY'S PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY: THE COMING OF AGE OF THE VIRTUAL TEACHER: By EDWIGE SIMON M.A., Universit? Lille III, 2000 M.A., Indiana University, 2003 M.S., Indiana University, 2005

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy ATLAS Institute 2012

UMI Number: 3508146

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This thesis entitled:

The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education Faculty's Professional Identity and the Role of Technology: The Coming of Age of the Virtual Teacher: written by Edwige Simon has been approved for the ATLAS Institute

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Edwige Simon (ATLAS Institute)

The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education Faculty's Professional Identity and the Role of Technology: The Coming of Age of the Virtual Teacher

Thesis directed by John Bennett, Archuleta Professor of Computer Science

This dissertation employs a mixed method approach to investigate the impact of online teaching on higher education faculty's professional identity, and the role played by technology in this process. Previous work on faculty preparation to teach online does not recognize that before changing practices, it is necessary to examine the values and belief systems that underlie those practices. I examine the results of two qualitative studies that compare different groups of teachers. The first group was comprised of teachers who teach both online and face-to-face, but who expressed a clear preference for the face-to-face classroom, and who reportedly experienced difficulty enacting their professional identity in the online classroom. The second group was comprised of online teachers with a record of online teaching excellence, and who reportedly enjoyed both modalities equally. I then examine the results of a survey of 223 higher education faculty that considers the degree to which findings from the first two studies can be generalized. This research helps identify how online learning is changing both teachers and the teaching profession within higher education, why many faculty remain ambivalent about online teaching, and suggests ways to address these challenges.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1

I. Background ......................................................................................................................... 1

II. Prior Research ................................................................................................................... 2

III. Research Goals ................................................................................................................. 2

IV. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 3

CHAPTER II: RELATED WORK ............................................................................................. 5

I. Online Teaching and Learning .......................................................................................... 5

1. Definitions........................................................................................................................ 5

1.1 Distance Education ..................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Face-to-Face Learning ................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Web Facilitated........................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Blended/Hybrid Learning ........................................................................................... 6 1.5 Online Learning .......................................................................................................... 6

2. Brief History of the Field ................................................................................................. 7

3. Online Learning in 2012 .................................................................................................. 8

3.1 Significant Growth ..................................................................................................... 8 3.2 The Main Actors of Online Learning ......................................................................... 9 3.3 Learning Outcomes .................................................................................................. 10

4. Practical Barriers to Online Teaching ............................................................................ 12

4.1 Pedagogy and Technology ....................................................................................... 12 4.2 Student Readiness..................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Time Commitment and Compensation..................................................................... 13 4.4 Perceptions of Online Learning ................................................................................ 14

II. Identity, Teaching Identity and Online Identity........................................................... 15

1. Identity ........................................................................................................................... 15

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2. Identity Attributes .......................................................................................................... 16

2.1 The Social Construction of Identity ......................................................................... 16 2.2 Multiple Identities .................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Changing Identities................................................................................................... 18 3. Teaching Identity ........................................................................................................... 19

3.1 Definition.................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Importance of Teaching Identity .............................................................................. 21 3.3 Academic Identity .................................................................................................... 21

4. From Classroom to Online Identity ............................................................................... 22

4.1 Embodied and Disembodied Identities..................................................................... 22 4.2 Online Teaching Selves ............................................................................................ 23 4.3 Identity Enactment Online........................................................................................ 24

III. Technologies of Distance Learning ............................................................................... 24

1. History of Distance Learning Technologies History ..................................................... 24

1.1 Garrisson and Anderson's Model ............................................................................. 25 1.2 Taylor's Model ......................................................................................................... 28

2. Technology Packages..................................................................................................... 29

2.1 The Course Management System ............................................................................. 29 2.2 Social Media ............................................................................................................. 31

3. From Text to Virtual Reality.......................................................................................... 32

3.1 Text-Based Technologies ......................................................................................... 32 3.2 Audio-Based Technology ......................................................................................... 34 3.3 Video-Based Technology: Exploring Telepresence ................................................. 35 3.4 Virtual Reality: Exploring Identity Construction ..................................................... 37

4. Limitations of Previous Work........................................................................................ 39

CHAPTER III: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 41 I. Teaching Identity and Communities of Practice ........................................................... 41 1. Why Look at Teacher Identity?...................................................................................... 41 2. Identities within Communities of Practice..................................................................... 43

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II. Identity Challenges of the Transition to the Online Classroom.................................. 44 1. Draw a Teacher .............................................................................................................. 44 2. Challenges to Cores Values and Beliefs ........................................................................ 45 3. Challenges to Traditional Modes of Enactments ........................................................... 46 4. Challenges to Professional Fulfillment .......................................................................... 47

III. Dealing with Dissonance ................................................................................................ 48

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PILOT STUDY ....................................... 49 I. Research Questions........................................................................................................... 49 II. Pilot Study ........................................................................................................................ 50 1. Framework ..................................................................................................................... 50 2. Methods.......................................................................................................................... 51 3. Findings.......................................................................................................................... 51 4. Significance.................................................................................................................... 52 5. A Reciprocal Impact ...................................................................................................... 52

CHAPTER V: METHODS ........................................................................................................ 54 I. The Choice of Mixed Methods ......................................................................................... 54 II. Qualitative Methods ........................................................................................................ 55 1. Research Strategy: Collective and Instrumental Case Studies....................................... 56 2. Participants..................................................................................................................... 57 2.1 Characteristics and Selection.................................................................................... 57 2.2 Recruiting Method .................................................................................................... 58 3. Data Collection and Recording ...................................................................................... 59 3.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................. 60 3.2 Observations ............................................................................................................. 61 3.3 Document Analysis .................................................................................................. 62

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3.4 Audio-Visual Material .............................................................................................. 63 4. Data Analysis and Interpretation.................................................................................... 63 5. Organization and Preparation of the Data ...................................................................... 63 6. Data Coding ................................................................................................................... 64 7. Findings and Discussion ................................................................................................ 64 8. Strategies for Findings Validation ................................................................................. 65

8.1 Role of the Researcher.............................................................................................. 65 8.2 Triangulation of Sources .......................................................................................... 65 8.3 Presentation of Negative Findings............................................................................ 66 III. Quantitative Research Methods.................................................................................... 66 1. Choice and Purpose of the Survey ................................................................................. 66 2. Survey Characteristics.................................................................................................... 66 3. Population and Sample................................................................................................... 67 4. Instrumentation .............................................................................................................. 68 5. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 69

CHAPTER VI: CASE STUDY ONE ........................................................................................ 70

I. Case Study One Findings ................................................................................................. 70

1. Finding 1: Participants' Professional Identities are Dominated by Teaching Identities 70

1.1 Participants are Professionally Fulfilled Classroom Teachers ................................. 70 1.2 Participants' Sources of Professional Fulfillment are Tied to the Face-to Face Nature of Classroom Teaching ......................................................................................... 71 1.3 Participants Have Mostly Stable Classroom Identities ............................................ 72 1.4 Discussion................................................................................................................. 74

2. Finding 2: Participants' Teaching Identities are Dominated by Classroom Teaching ... 75

2.1 Most Participants Prefer Face-to-Face Teaching ..................................................... 75 2.2 Few Participants Prefer Online or Report No Preference ........................................ 76 2.3 Participants Find Online Teaching Time Consuming .............................................. 77

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