Thursday, 27 September 2007

Burnout: key messages

What an interesing article about humanity that Steve Mac has posted this morning. In particular the article picksup on theimpact of technologies on DL tutors, but it has resonance for us all in environments that are "always on" and where the expectations of those who cannot look you in the eye and connect with you may be out-of-step with what you can deliver.

The article focuses upon:
1) emotional exhaustion;
2) depersonalization; and
3) personal accomplishment.

It goes on to highlight that institutional managers must:
"1. Consult with online faculty on matters directly impacting their learning environment (i.e., curriculum development);
2. Provide adequate resources to support online instructors (i.e., technology support resources);
3. Provide detailed job descriptions and faculty expectations to reduce role ambiguity;
4. Create and maintain clear lines of communication between online faculty and administrators by providing
performance feedback;
5. Facilitate professional development activities (i.e., mentoring, advanced training using online technology); and
6. Reduce teaching load and number of students per online course."

Given the impact of new technologies and approaches these human issues have a real resonance for staff.

1 comment:

Sue Thomas said...

Thanks for this interesting article. I'm wondering whether DMU has a recognised staff/student ratio for online teaching, and whether it is based on interactive teaching, i.e. via message boards and chat etc as opposed to just document delivery ? I'm guessing there probably isn't such a number, but should there be, and what might it add it up to?