| This study brings the voice of Bailey University Online's (a pseudonym) adjunct faculty to the University's existing Quality Initiative Program. The study used a three-round survey Delphi Research method to reach group consensus concerning the instructors' level of importance of the topics pertaining to the social and educational components of teaching when facilitating online courses and the aspects of management, course delivery, or organizational support required to make the teaching experience and the student's learning experience successful and fulfilling. This information, when compared with research-proven educational models and methodologies (best practices), illustrate these instructors' current online teaching practices and inform the University's Quality Initiative Program.; The respondents' top six items of importance, related to the social and educational components of teaching and facilitating online courses, were (a) the instructor's presence in discussions, (b) the use of practical examples, (c) the idea of building community through positive professional tone, (d) the need to ask open ended questions (e) the use of the student's names to build community, and (f) the use of the student's names in gradebook feedback. Their top six items of importance related to organizational support were (a) stability of the course platform, (b) quality course design, (c) quality course materials, (d) seeking continual improvement such as instructional practices or platform advancements, (e) having a student online orientation course, and (f) having an instructor online orientation or new faculty training session.; The study's findings are in agreement with a review of literature in the field indicating where the University's online program is working well. A noted lack of educational terms in the textual comments from the participants related to online-teaching methods or the educational media presentation from the respondents as well as little to no acknowledgement of classroom leadership or management in the forms of cultural awareness, diversity issues, gender issues or any type of conflict resolution. These items indicate where the University can do better and future research recommendations include research to understand how these last two observations are manifested in the context of the University's online educational system.; Key words: online education, online teaching methods, educational leadership, Delphi method, Delphi study, Media Psychology, Media Studies, online teaching best-practices. |
