Southwest Tennessee Community College
Online Faculty Expectations
Training and support for developing online courses are available for Southwest faculty in the Center of Emphasis, which is located in Freeman 210 on the Macon Campus and B206 on the Union Avenue Campus. You can contact a member of the COE staff for training and assistance with your course development and design. Contact information can be obtained on the COE’s web site at https://deit.southwest.tn.edu/coe/
Knowledge
1. Assess your skills. You should be able to:
v search and navigate the Internet using a browser
v use bookmarks
v send and receive e-mail and attachments
v download files
v have knowledge of basic terminology (bulletin board, forum, chat, browser, etc)
2. Answering basic technical questions is pretty much compulsory. For questions that are more difficult, refer students to the Help Desk through My.Southwest. https://apps.southwest.tn.edu/request/work-request.aspx?action=Login
3. Know how to receive technical and/or training help.
Embrace (and love) the Technology! (Even though this is not essential it certainly helps). You need to enjoy the “challenge” aspect of this medium. There WILL BE technical problems to be solved.
Expectations
Teaching an online course requires a dedication to quality interaction, and teaching within the online environment. These expectations include but may not be limited to the following list:
1. Provide and adhere to the syllabus linked on the Distance Education web site. The syllabus should follow the college’s guidelines but also clearly state if the class requires
a. students to come to campus for any part of the course.
b. students to possess specific software or equipment such as microphone, special software versions, synchronous meetings, etc.
c. students to acquire an access code from the publisher
2. Interact with students on the Discussion Board and in e-mail to motivate, encourage, provide constructive feedback, and build a sense of community within the course.
3. It is highly recommended that the participation on the Discussion Board be included as part of the final grade.
4. Most successful online courses depend on successful interaction between all parties. Brush up on your netiquette at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
5. Respond to student inquiries within 48 hours, 7 days a week. You should log in at least once on the weekend since many students are online and often have questions during this time.
6. Provide a complete grade book which students can access; post grades to WebCT grade book within one week of receiving an assignment or test.
7. Online teaching is time consuming. Initially it is much more time consuming than classroom teaching. Log in at least 5 days a week and interact with students (by e-mail, discussion board, or grade postings).
8. Post a welcome message on the Discussion Board at the beginning of the semester.
9. Provide access to peer reviewers by allowing a student account to be added to your course. If the course requires an access code, you must contact the publisher for the code.
10. Through discussion with the publisher, you will inform your department head of the correct ISBN number for your e-pack and textbook package. It is best to attend to this prior to submitting book orders to avoid access problems with you and your students. Just as with traditional classes, ordering the correct books, PIN numbers, and combination sets are the responsibility of the faculty member and the department chair.
11. Twenty-five percent of the material in the class must be original. A 50% adaptation of an e-pack will not meet this criterion. The onus will be on you to identify the 50% which you created.
12. Understand that as a part of the college’s continuous improvement plan, we will be conducting regular and scheduled reviews of online courses. This review will include information from you, the departments, the trainers, the technical reviewer, and the students.
Please sign below to indicate that you understand and accept these responsibilities as an online course designer and instructor.
Faculty Signature Date
1 12/9/2011