The first question of the survey asked respondents to select what experiences they had teaching and learning online. As can be seen in the chart above, more than two thirds have graded, DSLd or SSLd a course online (three SSLs had not DSLd or graded making the total of people with online teaching experience 20). Just under half of the respondents have taught their own course online and almost as many have taken an online course. Exposure to online courses as TAs, students, or observers allows GTAs to gather insight into their own teaching and should be encouraged.

Attitudes towards learning online

GTAs do not consider online teaching as effective as teaching in person.

This attitude is concerning. It is reasonable to assume that TAs are less encouraged in online courses. A common concern listed in the comments of the survey was about the lack of student involvement in courses. Because there is an expectation that students get less out of an online course than an in person course, teachers might receive less fulfillment from teaching them which might lead to less enthusiasm which might lead to less engagement.

Looking at the respondents who have taken an online course themselves, the data looks roughly the same at first glance, but where over half (18 of 27) of the overall respondents disagreed that online courses were as effective as face to face, just under half (5 of 11) of those who had taken an online course shared that opinion.

Put another way, most of the negative opinion on online courses comes from people who have never taken one themselves. Likewise, most of the indifferent and favorable opinions come from those who had taken courses online. As more GTAs come into the program with online learning experiences and as those in the program do their coursework online, the attitude towards online teaching may change for the better.

Those who have taken online courses enjoy teaching them slightly more than those who have not (4/11 compared to 3/13 of those who responded to the question) and they are far less likely to strongly dislike teaching online.

Preparing Online Teachers

Only 3 respondents agreed that they felt prepared for their first experience teaching online. Most, as shown on the chart below, felt indifferent to the statement. One third of people who responded, however, felt unprepared for teaching online.

Concerns about online teaching center around skills.

Respondents overwhelmingly agree that teaching online requires different skills than teaching in person. Based on comments, the aspects of online courses which most concern the respondents are designing and presenting material, moderating engaging discussions, and becoming familiar with aspects of Carmen they do not use in their face to face courses.

GTAs consider teaching online more difficult than teaching in person. Where some of that difficulty comes because of the skills they need to learn, much of it likely comes from extra work involved in teaching online. Another common concern voiced in the comments was making materials and lectures for courses, a time consuming aspect of teaching online that does not exist for in person classes.

The department already has structures that can help graduate students understand online teaching better. Many of the issues discussed in the comments can be alleviated by a short introduction to Carmen’s features and ASC tools like CarmenConnect and CarmenWiki. Respondents also highly favored the idea of covering online teaching in the department’s pedagogy course.

Based on discussions I have had with GTAs, I believe the department would be well-served by offering orientations for new TAs which can also be attended by faculty and GTAs based on interest. The department could offer workshops showing the basics of Carmen or focusing on more specific concerns like curbing cheating or making a course more interactive. The orientation can be designed solely for online teaching or also include those teaching face to face. This can be funded through a “Bringing it Home” grant from UCAT.

Respondents also expressed interest in joining a workgroup where graduate students can discuss their own experiences teaching online and learn from each other.

I began a program like this last year but participation was small. I hope that this survey acts not only to understand the unique issues or online teaching but also to inform GTAs and other interested parties of my program.

Prof. Ousman Kobo has also begun a project designed to help GTAs with their online teaching. He has gathered a committee to discuss how the department might make materials available to graduate students. This would alleviate concerns about lecturing and making quizzes. Many GTAs who teach their first time using materials from a faculty course, Prof. Kobo’s project would make that possible for online courses as well. His committee is also discussing the possibility of an online training process for online teaching. This has a twofold benefit of introducing GTAs to the methods of teaching online and giving them hands-on experience using Carmen. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the people who took classes online expected better outcomes from teaching online.

One final avenue the department should investigate is supplying GTAs with materials focused on online teaching and teaching in general.

Organizations on campus like UCAT and ODEE offer workshops designed to demonstrate new techniques and practices to teachers. ODEE has a program called DELTA that offers workshops and provides a workspace where teachers can design a class in the presence of eLearning experts. Graduate students might also be interested in the Course Design Institutes run by UCAT. They are open to GTAs, but space fills up fast. The department should consider advertising these opportunities to GTAs. In my role as GTF, I can take on that responsibility for this year.