Tips for Administrators in Promoting Distance Programs Using

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Tips for Administrators in Promoting Distance
Programs Using Peer MentoringPresented
byBarbara K. McKenzie, Kent Layton, and Betul
Ozkan
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Presented by

• Barbara K. McKenzie, Ph.D.
• Professor Department Chair, Media IT
  Department, University of West Georgia
• bmckenzi_at_westga.edu
• Kent Layton, Ph.D.
• Professor Dean, College of Education,
  University of West Georgia
• klayton_at_westga.edu
• Betul Ozkan, Ph.D.
• Coordinator for Instructional Technology, Long
  Island University
• betul.ozkan_at_liu.edu

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Quality Online Courses

• In demand today by students, faculty, and
  administrators
• Online courses are difficult to design and
  implement
• time consuming
• knowledge, skills, and desire needed
• Higher education institutions producing more and
  better online courses today
• to better meet students needs
• to capture the market

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Online Course Delivery

• A challenge
• takes time and training to become proficient
• if course is not delivered well, it can decrease
  student interest and enrollment
• Faculty must be trained effectively
• course design, effective teaching practices, and
  evaluation are key factors
• significantly different than face-to-face

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To Effectively Prepare Faculty

• Distance mentoring effectively utilized
• experienced instructors are connected to a new,
  interested distance instructor
• timely assistance provided
• mentees advance quickly and have a more positive
  online teaching experiences

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Overview of Mentoring Program

• Fall 2005 through Spring 2006
• Purpose
• to assist faculty to develop and integrate up to
  2 face-to-face class meetings online
• Motivation and encouragement
• funds for travel, equipment, professional
  development
• A volunteer program

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Overview

• E-mail requests to participate
• Assignments based on requests
• for participation and mentors
• Mentoring and training provided
• by COE and Distance Office
• Assessments
• formative and summative

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Demographics

• of Mentees
• Fall 15
• Spring 30 (43 increase)
• of Mentors
• Fall 20
• Spring 16 (25 decrease)
• of Department involved
• Fall 5 departments
• Spring 5 departments

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Demographics

• of courses impacted
• Fall 31 courses
• 22 graduate
• 9 undergrad
• Spring 39 courses
• 29 graduate
• 10 undergraduate
• Total 70 classes

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Demographics

• of class sessions integrated to online
• Fall 112 class sessions
• Spring 216 class sessions
• TOTAL 328 class sessions

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Demographics

• Spring Distance Participants
• Added the following number of online sessions to
  their classes reported by frequency
• 17 classes had 3 online meetings (18)
• 8 classes had 1 online meeting (6)
• 6 classes had 2 online meetings (12)
• 4 classes had 6 online meetings (35)
• 4 classes had 10 online meetings (59)

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Demographics

• 2 classes had
• 4 online meetings (24)
• 5 online meetings (29)
• 15 online meetings (88)
• 1 class had
• 7 online meetings (41)
• 12 online meetings (71)
• 14 online meetings (82)
• 8 classes had more than 51 online

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Assessment

• DL Mentoring Program was highly successful in
  helping new distance instructors develop enhanced
  knowledge and skills in
• effective distance teaching practices
• technology utilization
• online course layout and design
• effective online interaction techniques

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Successes of Program

• Greatly increased the of online class sessions
• Mentees knowledge, skills, and confidence
  improved
• Mentors indicated their teaching and course
  design skills improved
• Greater socialization took place and more sharing
  of distance information

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Successes of Program

• Increased distance collaboration campus wide
• Significant growth in the mentoring program
• Headsets purchased for participants to add audio
  to presentations were well received

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Challenges

• Difficult to find a sufficient number of highly
  trained mentors to work with growing number of
  distance mentees
• Obtaining funds for continuing the program during
  times when campuses are economically challenged

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Challenges

• The assignment of mentees to mentors
• Making good matches ALL the time
• Assigning mentors to participants who signed up
  late for the mentoring program

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Tips for Administrators

• Oversee mentoring programs and be familiar with
  effective teaching/ learning practices in order
  to make appropriate distance decisions
• Require distance instructors to begin teaching
  2-3 online class sessions in a course and
  gradually increase the number of sessions as more
  knowledge and confidence is acquired

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Tips for Administrators

• Select highly effective face-to-face instructors
  for online instructor mentees
• Ineffective face-to-face instructors also tend to
  be ineffective online

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Tips for Administrators

• Carefully match mentors with mentees
• fields of interest, working styles, requests made
• Provide structure to training programs
• an orientation
• training information
• contact person for questions

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Tips for Administrators

• Build collaboration into mentoring programs
• sharing sessions are important for participants
  to exchange ideas
• training sessions
• formal and informal luncheons
• web sites, listservs

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Future Directions

• Establish roles between those involved in the
  mentoring program
• mentors
• mentees
• administrators
• Start fall program with orientation meeting to
  provide greater structure
• begin program within first two weeks of semester

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Future Directions

• Provide a variety of training options
• traditional mentoring
• online mentoring
• COE web site
• Distance web site
• formal informal luncheons
• Continue with formative summative assessments
• add focus group assessments

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Future Directions

• Work more collaboratively with the Distance
  Office
• Continue to learn from our observations and
  assessments
• to continue ensuring high quality, effective
  teaching at the University of West Georgia

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Tips for Administrators in Promoting Distance
Programs Using Peer Mentoring

• Any Questions?
• Contact Information
• Barbara K. McKenzie- bmckenzi_at_westga.edu
• Kent Layton- klayton_at_westga.edu
• Betul Ozkan- betul_ozkan_at_liu.com