| This qualitative study, based on grounded theory, explores the online experiences of teachers who teach graduate and undergraduate courses online. It identifies themes that emerge from data and proposes a theory of the online teaching experience.; Data were collected over a period of eight months from multiple interviews with forty-four faculty members. The first round of interviews resulted in seventy-seven categories that were further refined and aggregated into higher level categories. Subsequent interviews helped refine the categories and clarify concepts and themes identified in the first round of interviews.; The analysis of the interview data was conducted using the constant-comparison method specific to grounded theory and involved open, axial, and selective coding. The theory that emerged was validated against, and is grounded in the data.; The categories identified during the research eventually converged around ten main categories: Teaching, Teaching Demands, Teacher Needs, Teaching Dimensions, Teaching With Technology, Technology, Differences Among Modalities, Issues, Adjustments, and Choice. A grounded theory of the online teaching experience proposes that teachers make a choice relative to the teaching modality they prefer. Starting with the explicit factors related to Teaching Demands and Teaching Needs, and the implicit ones associated with the Teaching Dimensions category, teachers reflect on their Teaching. They are exposed to Teaching with Technology as they use Technology inside and outside the classroom. Consequently, they become sensitized and notice Differences Among Modalities, leading them to identify a number of Issues related to subsequent categories. In response to the perceived Differences Among Modalities and the Issues they identify, teachers make Adjustments. The magnitude of the Adjustments required, combined with the relative importance of the Issues, their teaching philosophy (Teaching Dimensions), and whether or not their Teaching Needs are satisfied, leads them to make a Choice. The Choice may be to stay in one teaching modality, to avoid teaching online, or to leave the teaching profession altogether. Educational institutions and administrators interested in online education have the ability to manipulate some of the variables that affect teacher choice, resulting in increased willingness to accept online teaching assignments and increased teaching quality. |
