June 2004 — Features
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When the Cows Come Home: A Proven Path of Professional Development for Faculty Pursuing E-Learning
Faculty networking time. Each COW cohort was planned to balance content expertise and teaching experience. The workshops were intended to maximize networking opportunities for faculty from across the system. This helped the faculty members get to know their systemwide colleagues, not just those associates from their own campus-based departments.
Sharing. Some sessions let previous COW alumni show their courses or talk about their course development and delivery experiences. For instance, one session during two COW events featured a panel of students from various online courses sharing their perceptions and answering questions. These sessions were well appreciated.
Balancing theory and practice. COW presentations ran the gamut from instructional design theory to the use of specific applications. Reflecting on the workshop, one alum wrote: "I learned both the concepts and the how-to's, which was very good. I have tons of ideas for my course and I understand both how to implement them and why."
Hands-on work with tools. Sessions for learning course tools and using technologies were held in a computer teaching laboratory, providing faculty hands-on experience in using them. One participant wrote: "Being able to sit down at a PC and actually use the tools exceeded my expectations. I had thought that the tools would be explained, but that I wouldn't have the opportunity to actually use them."
The nonthreatening atmosphere. One respondent noted that "the effect was wonderful and unexpected. The 'cow' theme and jokes and upbeat atmosphere were a great added element. It especially counters the connotation of technology being dry and impersonal. It reinforced how important it is to bring a professor's personality into an online course."
Improving COW
Even though the workshops received consistently high praise, each year's evaluation offered an opportunity to suggest ways to improve the next workshops, with each new workshop being crafted from this feedback. The evaluations allowed the planning team to arrive at some general conclusions that are detailed below:
Course-focused activities. Faculty members want to work on the development of their course during the workshop as much as possible. Some even arrive with the expectation of completing their entire online course in the three days. Activities of the make-and-take variety, where faculty produce something that they can use in their course, were well appreciated.
Questions. Provide as much time for questions as possible. Most faculty members want to explore how a new concept or skill might be implemented in their course. Questions are among the easiest ways to accommodate this.
Go online. Put the basic facts and tutorials for skills into an online course for faculty. Teaching faculty about online courses with a face-to-face workshop was one of those oxymora that we had to live with. COW developed both a Web site and an online skills course, but faculty used these resources little until the face-to-face event required them to do so.
Advanced workshops. Faculty members come to a COW event with a wide range of technical expertise. Some already have mastered skills taught in certain sessions. Providing advanced topics or alternative tracks of sessions could keep more advanced participants from becoming bored.
