Not interested in teaching online?

Today i was asked this question…

What are some of the reasons faculty are not interested in teaching online?

As it happens we have looked at this. In studies and focus groups we did on SLN faculty and replicated elsewhere we found that:

1. The top faculty motivator to teach online is a more flexible work schedule.
2. The top faculty demotivator to teaching online is inadequate compensation for perceived greater work than for traditionally delivered courses, especially for online course development, revision, and teaching.

In general we have found that:

1. the leading online faculty motivators include the flexibility allowed by being able to teach “anytime/anywhere;” better/more personal interaction and community building supported by the medium; the technical and creativity challenges offered by this mode of teaching; being able to reach more (and more diverse) students; and better course management.
2. Major sources of dissatisfaction among online faculty are more work, medium limitations, lack of adequate support and policies for teaching online, and the fact that the medium is not a good fit for some students.

Here are the citations and links to the articles. For additional detail,  go straight to the results and discussion sections of the papers. They are pretty readable.

Shea, P. (2007). Bridges and barriers to teaching online college courses: A study of experienced online faculty at 36 colleges. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2), 73-128.  Preprint

Hiltz, R., Shea, P., & Kim, E. (2007). Using focus groups to study ALN faculty motivation. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(1), 107-124.  http://sloanconsortium.org/jaln/v14n1/using-focus-groups-study-aln-faculty-motivation