Support online teaching: bring pedagogical, technological and organisational aspects together

Providing efficient support is one of the key issues for the integration of ICT in teaching and learning. But what exactly is good support? According to literature findings (Beggs, 2000; Donovan, 1999; Gilbert, 2001) an ideal support for faculty should be flexible, scalable, accessible, easy to learn, voluntary and comprehensive. Based on the above criteria for best practice support, the WICeD Online Campus has been developed to facilitate online teaching. Faculty can access the WICeD Online Campus anytime when they need it from anywhere (flexible and accessible). Its use is optional (voluntary) and every staff member can take what s/he needs according to the existing knowledge base (scalable). The offered resources are user optimised, i.e. step by step instructions or checklists that are easy applicable in any educational situation (easy to learn). Faculty will find not only technological, but also pedagogical and organisational resources, help, hints and tips (comprehensive). Within the WICeD Online Campus, an area called Staff Room is the main place of interest for faculty looking for help. There pedagogy, technology and organization, the three key elements of good online teaching, are linked together: • Pedagogical Resources: Practical hints and tips about improving distinct aspects of teaching. Faculty need to have a pedagogical toolbox that is easy to use, therefore these resources focus on practical implementation with theoretical explanations reduced to a minimum. • Technological Resources: Step by step instructions on how to use the different technical tools. Again, the emphasis is placed on easiness of application and access, because faculty want to find a solution to their technical problems as quick as possible. • Organisational Resources: Templates of letters and information sheets that can be downloaded and customised for own purposes. Further there are information and tips from an organisational perspective on how to put a course online. The WICeD Online Campus will always be under construction. This support site should be driven by theneeds of its customers, the faculty. According to their requests existing information will be supplemented,more resources will be added, and new tools will be developed. Further, best practice examples of facultywill be integrated in order to recognise the results they have achieved and to encourage others. ReferencesBeggs, T. A. (2000, June 26 July 1). A study of the influences and barriers to faculty use of instructionaltechnology in higher education. Paper presented at the ED-MEDIA 2000, Montreal.Donovan, M. (1999). Rethinking faculty support. The Technology Source, 2002 (September/October).Available: http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id;=612 [30 July 2002].Gilbert, S. (2001). Low Threshold Applications (LTAs). Available:http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/rltas.html [20 August 2002]. Copyright  2002 Patrick KunzThe author assign to ASCILITE and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document forpersonal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is repro-duced. The author also grant a non-exclusive licence to ASCILITE to publish this document in full on the World WideWeb (prime sites and mirrors) and in printed form within the ASCILITE 2002 conference proceedings. Any other usageis prohibited without the express permission of the author.