Web-Based Instruction: Getting Faculty Onboard

Although many colleges and universities have embraced distance education, a significant number still have not. Approximately 40% of faculty from these institutions have not accepted the value and legitimacy of online education [Allen, I. A., & Seaman, J. (2003). Sizing the opportunity: The quality and extent of online education in the United States, 2002, 2003. Needham, Mass: The Sloan Consortium]. One reason for this may be that faculty are not sufficiently informed about online learning and the role they might play in teaching in this environment. A number of salient issues are addressed: who our students are; what drives colleges and universities to offer distance education; which educational theory underpins distance education; how distance education fares in terms of quality as compared with face-to-face instruction; what the advantages and disadvantages of teaching online are; how teaching style is affected; and what types of support faculty need in providing instruction in this medium. Some recommendations are included for faculty who are considering teaching online. In this article, distance education refers to an asynchronous, web-based, and online format.