Literature on training faculty to teach online still dwells on the issues explored a
decade ago. To make a substantial move in this area, it is necessary to re-evaluate the
essence of training in the context of producing qualified online faculty to teach quality
online courses. Employing a phenomenological approach, this study examines seven
online faculty’s lived training experiences and observed that there existed incidental
factors that could affect the quality of training. Further data analysis indicated that it
was the different levels of understandings of “training” between different parties that
led to variations in the quality of training. “There is a whole [training] world that’s
going on out there … I’m just not interested… because that’s not my world,” said one
research participant. Therefore, different parties involved in training online faculty
should look at training from a systems approach and view training as an opportunity
(1) to transfer knowledge and skills necessary for conducting quality online
instruction; (2) to remove barriers preventing faculty from teaching online; and (3) to
transform traditional faculty members into highly qualified online faculty.
