Last Stand of the Late Adopters

[jnuckles]

Having supported faculty and students using 3 different Learning Management Systems (LMS) in Higher Education, I've seen the support and training needs of our faculty shift over time.

When we started with Blackboard, there were so few adopters, we had the time to work with individuals for as long as necessary for them to feel comfortable. As we moved from one LMS to the next, these instructors adapted quickly to the changes and have needed very little help from us over the years.

As we moved to ANGEL in 2008, we found that a massive number of faculty jumped on-board and usage of the system quickly climbed to about 80% adoption. This seemed to be spurred by the fact that it was a new system, as the increase in usage started with a large uptick and then a gradual increase every semester onward. This group, for the most part, needed some initial handholding and a good manual to refer to in those times when they couldn't remember how to do something. Most of these users fell in love with ANGEL, even though it's interface wasn't what I would call simple.

A year ago in early 2014, we moved to Canvas. Canvas is very intuitive to use compared to any system that we have used in the past. As I expected, following the change in systems, we are seeing another quick increase in the number of faculty using the system. From all appearances, these are our late adopters, really late adopters, 10 years too late adopters. Some of them are nearly retired, others are "the last holdouts of their department". I think that they thought it was the Alamo and they were making some kind of last stand for a tech-free education. Now their departments or peer pressure or in many cases, the constant haunting moans of their students pleading with them to get with the times have finally broken them down.

This brings me to the problem. We're kind of at a loss in how to work with this group. Most of them are impatient about getting caught up with their counterparts (finally) but frustrated and easily discouraged by every minor difficulty that they encounter. They want to jump into using publisher LTI integration when they are not even wet behind the ears in Canvas yet. They require a lot of personal time with support specialists, sometimes needing to be calmed down first. Canvas is so simple to use, but this group of faculty really seem to be struggling. Providing them online resources for self-help is not the answer. This group is used to a simpler life on the plains where nothing ever changed, let alone changed every three weeks. They "Thought this would make everything easier" but I don't think they are seeing how it does.

I welcome any thought or ideas about working with this group of faculty. I have a feeing the number of these faculty reaching out to us is only going to grow as those last 20% (now more like 15%) start using Canvas.

[kona]

As much as we're a 100% online faculty training Institution what I've found for these *late technology bloomers* is that face-to-face individual sessions work the best. [Yes, it did pain me to say that.]

We've started doing initial consultation sessions where we really talk about what they want to try, what would be involved, and then discuss a plan of attack. Basically how they can start small and add more over time. As part of this I also encourage them to contact me as much as they like (which some really do) when they need help and we normally end up meeting face-to-face for these sessions or sometimes they like it when I make a video special for them and their issue/question.

I think the biggest thing is really hearing them out (in regards to what they think they want to do) and then be realistic about how long it might take to get to that point.

[morris_admin]

We're dealing with this too, to some extent. I agree with Kona: it works best with one tool at a time. Do they know how to add resources to a module? Then, can they build assignments? Then,  can they collect work online? Then, can they grade and provide feedback online, etc. Good course design in Canvas is perhaps the hardest leap in my experience.  Maybe you can try to do this in small groups during hands-on sessions for the sake of efficiency, but our Instructional Design team of three has generally found that we get the most out of one-on-one consultations with this population.

[jnuckles]

We are currently holding 1 hour in-person sessions on single topics for faculty. We have not only sent out emails and put up posters and even paper flyers in their mailboxes. Out of 5 sessions, only 2 people attended. This has been typical attendance at these types of events. They just won't come, no matter what we do. We've tried different days of the week and times of day. We've tried offering food. The only thing that successfully brings in people are full-day training sessions in the week prior to the start of courses. As Kona and Jessica have mentioned, smaller bites are better for this group of faculty but they only seem to want the whole pie.

[gorsi]

I think we have a similar situation -- the majority of our faculty are using Canvas... but there are some holdouts. They tend to be very "needy" and impatient and see themselves as not tech savvy, so they get frustrated easily and resentful of the technology... Sigh...

Complicating matters is the large number of adjunct faculty and the constant churn in who's teaching / who's not teaching / who's been gone but now is back teaching / who's brand new to our school.

By mentioning adjunct faculty I simply mean this (I appreciate and respect our adjunct faculty!): anyone paid a fixed amount to do a job that can be infinitely elastic has a strong incentive to keep to a limited number of hours of work. I.e., teaching, lesson planning, grading, etc., will consume as much time as you're willing to spend on it! most of our adjunct faculty have another job, plus one hopes a family\personal life...

I have long suspected that even when we offer free trainings, in person/webinars/online, with free food and prizes (a variety of prizes even a drawing for iPads on occasion)... even after we're asked by a supervisor to offer a faculty training workshop... the real reason that we get zero to low attendance at our professional development trainings is simple:

we don't pay our faculty to attend our trainings. Yes, we expect them to come and not get any compensation for their time...

No money = "my time is not valued enough for me to be here, even if I am struggling with the technology."

I've been advocating a flat "stipend" or "half-day" rate for attending a training.

At some of our dozen campuses there are some supervisors who do pay faculty to attend certain trainings. Unsurprisingly, the turnout is always much higher...

Perhaps my comment isn't quite to the point here, but there seems to be an overlap between the dismaying lack of attendance at any & all Canvas trainings we offer AND the population who most needs said trainings!

It's only a small consolation that my supervisor says that every school she has worked at has the same problem: the school rarely pays faculty to attend trainings and then few people attend. We mostly get the same group of "technophiles" at our trainings who love learning more & more about Canvas...

[Cindy_Masek]

I'm tagging in on Kona's thinking also.  They need 1 on 1 support.  We have had a very similar situation as to "experienced" faculty with very low tech skills.  There are only a few but they can take the majority of your time.  Systemically, it works to require everyone to complete some minimal level of training and then document that they possess these skills ( alter home page with contact information, upload syllabus, create modules, add content to modules, make an announcement, set up grade book, etc.).  We did that with a lot of success.  The super - users and the Learning Lab staff (more on that in a minute) did the check offs and the skills sheet went to the faculty's dean or director.  That said, these struggling learners are the ones who had the most difficulty retaining that information but it least got their feet wet.  We are different in that we require everyone to use Canvas, and we have only Canvas as an option.  We are small (less than 750 students).  So maybe too unique to generalize well.

     But I've created this Learning Lab approach and this has worked well.  I was able to get into one of the larger offices and on all available desktop space I've accumulated otherwise rejected laptops.  These have 3 uses.  Faculty who need support come in the office and work on things with me, our Instructional Designer and some student workers on hand to help them as they work.  That way they have help when they need it but I can also keep working on things in between times instead of hanging out in their offices for hours when they only need a minute every now and then.  It works especially well for those for whom lack of confidence is the biggest issue.  Secondly, I've hired work study students to be in the Learning Lab for this very purpose.  They sit with faculty and work with them individually.  Or they go to the persons office and sit with them for long stretches as they set things up.  Staffing is a bit of challenge - I thought I could cover most days and times with four students - but that is only covering about 1/3 of the regular hours, so I am looking for more workers all the time.  These student workers use a different email and password to log into Canvas in the student assistant role, and I've created a customized set of authorizations for them.  They are on their honor to not enter any current or future courses and I do randomly check what they have accessed.  But these are all healthcare workers and are very familiar with HIPAA level security and not accessing anything you don't have direction to do so. And I've been pretty careful about my selections as well.  Thirdly, faculty can check out the laptops over night if needed. 

     My student workers do a lot of other things for faculty other than help with just learning Canvas.  They create content on Raptivity, quizzes, discussion forums, groups, pages with images and links - anything that faculty aren't comfortable with or don't have time to do so long as they have had the course, isn't in their program, or is a non-graded item. In some situations they create content in a Learning Lab course where I keep up the Learning Lab schedule on a google doc and track other things.  Then I move what they make into a course where they shouldn't go.  I don't know if that is an option for everyone, but it has worked for me.  The Learning Lab isn't anything official anywhere, its just my creation, but the concept has been very successful.  My student workers are always busy.

[clong]

Gabrielle, I agree with your conclusion that if we expect our faculty to attend trainings then they should be compensated for their time. The compensation may not need to be monetary all the time and it gets complicated for the case of adjuncts and trainings offered during the work day. These things definitely need to be worked out.

Another reason that teachers don't go to "trainings" is that they are quite often literally the worst examples of teaching/pedagogy imaginable. When teachers go to a 'training' and they are made to sit through a slide presentation with tons of bullets or a "monkey see monkey do" training that is lead by someone with little to no experience in the classroom this just sets the cause back and infuriates them.

I hate even calling them 'trainings' you train animals not teachers. When you get a group of teachers together and ask them to give up their time (compensated or not), they have to walk out of room feeling like their time was well spent. We've got to treat them like VIPs, over prepare, inspire them, challenge them, support them and most of all create an environment where teachers can sharpen each other, by sharing how they use Canvas to make a learning impact and move teaching and learning forward. This is not easy to do, and how much support and time is given for teachers to be part of the professional development designing?

So How Will Teachers Start the Learning Revolution?

[clong]

Love the learning lab approach Cindy. I think those types of interactions lead to immediate implementation and using of Canvas.

Have you ever or are you able to try sending the student workers or Instructional Designers out to their classrooms or offices?

[jayoder]

I know this is an older thread, but I am right in this position now, and this thread has been very good food for thought and helpful! Anyone have different insights since original posts or success stories?

  @kona ‌ jnuckles‌  @Cindy_Masek ‌?

We are hoping our school will approve one of our faculty members to transition into a tech integration specialist so we don't have the infuriating trainings like  @clong  mentioned.

[Bobby2]

Oh boy, not an easy one Jeff.

This image has stuck with me about such peeps. And others.

Funny how some suddenly want to join the party. The 1:1 time and support is probably the only way to make headway.

Best of luck Jonathan keep us posted with how you get on.

[waaaseee]

 @Bobby2 ‌ wow, now this has stuck with me too