Where Has The Time Gone? Faculty Activities and Time Commitments in the Online Classroom
While research has examined the comparative time commitment required for on line versus face-to-face teaching, little is known about the distribution of faculty time investment into the various aspects of online course facilitation. The purpose of this study is to examine the proportion of time faculty devote to each of the pedagogical components that are required to effectively teach an online course. A survey of full time online faculty reveals that online faculty, much like their face-to-face counterparts, spend the majority of their time grading, providing feedback, and communicating with students (including discussion threads and one – on – one interactions).
Understanding the faculty time investment required to read and individually respond to student messages and written assignments may assist institutions in structuring online policies, course schedules and faculty development to ensure a balance between faculty workload and online course effectiveness.
The Journal of Educators Online
