In this post, we will discuss the results from one of the interview questions in this study. Instructors were asked:\u00a0What skills do you think are most valuable for online instructors to have?<\/em>\u00a0A qualitative analysis of this question revealed some useful and timely information for instructors who may be teaching or planning to teach online. Their insights are also relevant to faculty who are planning for blended modalities (see Kahn, 2020\u00a0part 1<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0part 2)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The top three valuable skills discussed by these long-term instructors were communication, organization and time management (see table below).<\/p>\n *Instructors = count (%) of instructors with the code (at least once)<\/em><\/p>\n Long-term instructors overwhelmingly discussed valuable skills related to communication. These communication skills were further organized into three categories: effective written communication, responsiveness, and tone or voice.<\/p>\n Written communication was the most common communication skill discussed by the instructors. These instructors emphasized how important effective written communication was for online teaching. They described this set of skills as\u00a0being clear, coherent, detailed, careful and thoughtful<\/em>\u00a0in written communication with students. Written communication is especially important when there is little in-person interaction. One instructor stated:<\/p>\n The second most frequently mentioned communication skill was responsiveness. Instructors emphasized the importance of being highly responsive to students, responding in a timely manner, and having frequent communication with students.<\/p>\n Finally, the instructors emphasized the importance of how they communicated. Several of the instructors mentioned that the tone or the voice of their communication with students was important. Some emphasized the importance of personal and conversational communication.<\/p>\n “You have to strike a tone right where you are sort of an expert and you\u2019re providing an extra layer of content through your lectures, but they\u2019re also there has to be some sort of a little bit less of a formality. So, it\u2019s almost conversational is what I figured out works best\u2026.. and not sounding so much as an academic writer, but someone that\u2019s in conversation with them about these things.”<\/p>\n After communication, organizational skills were the second most frequently discussed by the long-term instructors. Most of these responses emphasized the importance of organization within the structure of online courses. Other instructors discussed the importance of organization, as well as the strategies or techniques used to maintain organization, in their daily work as online instructors.<\/p>\n Of the instructors who discussed organization as a skill, most were focused on the importance of course organization: organizing material in the online course so it was self-explanatory, clear and understandable. Many of the instructors talked about the importance of organization as a skill when designing online courses as well as teaching them. One instructor stated the following:<\/p>\n “So, I\u2019d say you have to be really organized. You have to think about your material in terms of nuggets, or modules, or packages of material. I think that\u2019s just a general kind of skill, you need to be very organized, which I think is easier for some than others. So that\u2019s a skill.”<\/p>\n A smaller group of instructors talked about organizational skills from the perspective of their own work process (instructor organization). One instructor discussed using organizational strategies such as to-do lists and reminders set to certain weeks of the course. Another instructor emphasized the importance of personal organization:<\/p>\n “It\u2019s both about keeping yourself organized in such a way that assignments are released on time that you\u2019re doing your grading or feedback giving on time that even if you set things up to happen automatically by a Canvas or whatever delivery system you\u2019re using that you\u2019re still on top of it.”<\/p>\n The third most frequent valuable skills discussed by the long-term instructors were time management skills. Instructors discussed the importance of time management in online teaching as well as the importance of managing their time interacting with and responding to their online students. Time management, as these instructors described it was related to communication skills in that they discussed managing time spent responding to student emails and online discussion boards. Similar to the communication sub-theme of responsiveness, several of the instructors indicated the importance of responding to students in a timely manner, which some alluded to being more challenging in online teaching. For example, one instructor stated:<\/p>\n “Being responsive in a timely manner. And I will admit that sometimes I still struggle with that, because the students aren\u2019t in front of me, so there\u2019s less accountability. And so being able to make sure that I am responding in a timely way is, has really become more of a priority for me. It might not have been as much before, but I think it really matters. And I didn\u2019t put as much emphasis in carving out that time, to make sure that every day I\u2019d have a little bit of time to just, to devote to any kind of communication means for the online students.”<\/p>\n Several of the instructors discussed time management and timely responses in relationship to boundaries around their availability to online students. For example, the following are quotes from two instructors who commented about 24-hour cycles:<\/p>\n “I just think time management is something that\u2019s really, really important. You could easily get sucked into checking in on your course and doing stuff 24 hours a day. That\u2019s just not healthy.”<\/p>\n “You know, just kind of, you\u2019ve got to be ready to be accessible nearly 24\/7. That\u2019s a little \u2013 maybe not quite that much, but you know, I work a lot of nights because that\u2019s when questions come up and when you have 50 students and there\u2019s a weekly assignment \u2013 each one wants to post something, you know, two or three posts \u2013 that\u2019s a 150 posts to go through. That\u2019s a lot.”<\/p>\n A few instructors discussed strategies they use to manage their time interacting with and responding to online students while maintaining presence.<\/p>\n “I think one of the skills is being present. Different people get there in different ways, maybe they organized themselves whilst they are in the class many times, and they structure their time so they are, but just being present. So, if it\u2019s in the discussion board or creating a weekly, or biweekly announcement so it looks like you are there often. That\u2019s a skill.”<\/p>\n The long-term instructors\u2019 responses to this question illustrated a strong consensus. Remarkably, when asked about valuable skills for online teaching, 28 out of the 33 instructors talked about the importance of communication skills, underscoring the importance of these skills in an online context. Further, organizational skills and time management skills were discussed by 45%, or nearly half of these instructors. While these instructors have highlighted how these skills are best leveraged in an online context, it is worth noting that all three of these skills areas are of significant importance in all modalities of teaching. Thus, instructors teaching online for the first time may find these insights useful as they adapt their pre-existing teaching skills. Whether you are an instructor who is teaching an online, blended, remote or a face-to-face course, effective communication, organization, and time management are valuable skills to perfect. As lifelong learners, we all have the opportunity to grow and improve these skills in various context.<\/p>\n About the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit:<\/strong> The Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit responds to and forecasts the needs and challenges of the online education field through conducting original research; fostering strategic collaborations; and creating evidence-based resources and tools that contribute to effective online teaching, learning and program administration. The OSU Ecampus Research Unit is part of Oregon State Ecampus, the university\u2019s top-ranked online education provider. Learn more at\u00a0ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/research<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nTop three valuable skills for online instructors<\/h3>\n
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\n Code<\/strong><\/td>\n Number of instances<\/strong><\/td>\n Instructors*<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Communication<\/td>\n 43<\/td>\n 28 (85%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Organization<\/td>\n 21<\/td>\n 15 (45%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Time management<\/td>\n 18<\/td>\n 15 (45%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Communication<\/h2>\n
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<\/em>“Well, I think one skill is to be able to write succinctly and coherently. You\u2019re giving a lot of instructions. They\u2019re in writing, and if people are in different places and different times and whatever, really need to have those written so that they\u2019re understandable.”<\/p>\nOrganization<\/h2>\n
Time management<\/h2>\n
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