Factors that influence faculty satisfaction in online teaching

Level of satisfaction of faculty is very much important for the success of any teaching program. Online teaching is not an exception to it. The increasing use of computers have brought in the process of adapting online education techniques for imparting higher education. This essay gives an overview of the factors related to institution that influence faculty satisfaction in educating students through online mode.

Online teaching offers flexible working hours. Imparting education online permits 24 hours access to online classrooms and course materials. As a result it offers flexible working hours to instructors. It permits instructors to teach students at the time that is convenient for them (Hiltz. et al, 2002). Unlike teachers who impart classes face to face it is not mandatory for online instructors to follow fixed office hours, say from 9.00 am to 5 pm, from Monday to Friday. Online instructors can work both on part and full time basis. Besides, online instructors can impart classes at hour that is convenient to them.

The level of satisfaction is high among faculties, if the educational institution gives much importance to offering education online and has facilities and infrastructure exclusively dedicated to impart education online.  One of the biggest barriers associated with online teaching. When compared with traditional courses, online education involves heavy workload. Especially, at the initial stages, instructors have to spend much time in preparing on how to use online teaching to impart education to students (Saba, Howell, Lindsay and Williams, 2004). In order to increase the level of satisfaction of faculties, educational institutions must understand the difficulties associated with online teaching and give much time to faculties to prepare themselves for imparting education online. An equitable reward system and sufficient compensation are the two major factors that improve satisfaction level of faculties (Palloff and Pratt, 2001). Besides, institutions must also ensure that the quality of course content offered online is high such that they do not spoil the reputation of the faculty teaching online.

References

• Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realities of online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• Hiltz S.R, Coppola N.W, Rotter N B. (2002), “Becoming a virtual professor: Pedagogical roles and asynchronous learning networks”, Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(4),  pp. 169-189
• Howell, S.L., Saba, F., Lindsay, N.K., & Williams, P.B. (2004). Seven strategies for enabling faculty success in distance education. The Internet and Higher Education, 7(1), 33–49.