Using a grounded theory qualitative research approach, this article examines the experiences of 28 adjunct faculty members who work at the same university, exploring their views on whether periodically meeting face-to-face with management and peers has the potential to affect their motivation on the job and consequently the quality of education they provide to students. A few management representatives also shared their perspectives on the phenomenon; this enabled the researcher to compare the views of these two populations on whether face-to-face contact among faculty enhances teaching performance. The results of this study suggest a few issues that online schools must address in their efforts to improve adjuncts' sense of affiliation and loyalty to their institution, which in turn will positively affect student retention levels. The main issues of concern to adjunct faculty are (a) inadequate frequency and depth of communication, regardless of the means used, whether online or face-to-face; (b) lack of recognition of instructors' value to the institution; and (c) lack of opportunities for skill development.Keywords: Adjunct faculty; affiliation; isolation; loyalty; organizational commitment; psychological isolation; sense of community; social capital; trust International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Vol. 12.2 February -2011The Isolation of Online Adjunct Faculty and its Impact on their Performance Véra Dolan DePaul University and Ellis University, USA The Isolation of Online Adjunct Faculty and its Impact on their Performance Dolan 63 IntroductionA growing number of US workers are telecommuters who perform their jobs remotely most days of the week. Among these millions of virtual workers are many online educators, particularly adjunct instructors who teach for distance education institutions across North America and in other parts of the world.Academic administrators, increasingly aware of the potential alienation that physical distance can cause, have looked for ways to create a greater sense of community among online adjunct faculty members. The rationale for their efforts is based on the hope that online faculty will exchange best practices, thereby improving both their skills and their motivation; this ideally will enable schools to retain students because superior services are provided by motivated faculty members. However, educational administrators often appear to concentrate solely on the accomplishment of tasks, disregarding the importance of nurturing relational, social, and personal ties with telecommuting staff.Many administrators who oversee virtual faculty apparently believe that with advanced technology they can create dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration, which in their minds should be sufficient to cultivate loyalty among instructors. However, in order to encourage the best possible performance from remote workers, it is essential for educational institutions to understand that regardless of how sophisticated technology may be in opening communications ch...
This article is a review of ideas, comments, and inquiries about massive open online courses (MOOCs) gathered from a wide variety of online journal and magazine articles, and web blogs. As a seasoned “traditional” online educator, as well as a student participant in several MOOCs, I also take the opportunity to share my personal insight from my own learning experiences, with the goal of illustrating some of the concerns unearthed in my research. One serious issue regarding MOOCs is that some learners can feel isolated and/or neglected, particularly when they perceive that other course participants and/or the professor are ignoring their contributions. Our era has witnessed “the McDonaldization of Education” (Lane & Kinser, 2012), in which one size fits all and information is delivered to student “customers” via systematically managed “factories” whose overseers frown upon any supposed waste of valuable resources or human effort. In the mass-appeal environment of a MOOC, it is quite possible that a student will receive no customized feedback from nominal experts in the field. Lack of meaningful interaction is likely a key factor driving high attrition numbers in the online education environment – numbers that are apparently even higher in the case of MOOCs.
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