Institutions are beginning to reorient their enrollment strategies around rabidly popular online programs, a trend that carries huge implications for how faculty curate their learning environments, course materials and students.
However, scholars may be inundated with the tools of the future. Struggles by faculty to get ahead of the learning curve on new technologies are lowering morale, causing burnout and eroding faith in the sector, according to a WGU Labs survey.
More than 90% of faculty expect to use online tools routinely to deliver course content, support students and drive class activities, WGU Labs found. Nearly 80% believe their institutions will soon increase program offerings via micro−credentials, certificate programs and hybrid courses. However, less than a third believe that higher education’s tech obsession is moving the sector in the right direction, and a fifth (21%) declared it’s heading in the wrong direction.
“We don’t know everything that is driving faculty’s pessimism,” the report read, “but we do know that they have raised important concerns about the long-term impact of technology on the student and teaching experience in higher education.”
When faculty aren’t trained on new edtech tools, upskilling on their own only compounds their workload. Nearly two-thirds (64%) reported that technology makes it difficult for them to take a break from their work. Consequently, 41% blamed burnout on tech fatigue.
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Then there’s AI. Faculty were nearly evenly split on using large language models and encouraging students to use AI. Divergent attitudes among faculty will mean some students don’t receive guidance on the proper use of the technology, the report contends.
Nearly 360 faculty responded to WGU Labs’s survey, the majority of which hailed from community colleges and primarily online institutions.
How to build back buy-in in online tools
The report suggested how institutions can boost faculty morale and student retention as online platforms continue to become the norm in higher education.
- Help faculty better engage with edtech tools: It’s important for faculty to feel like they have a voice regarding new edtech tools to fend off tech fatigue, burnout and lack of buy-in. Establish faculty edtech committees, conduct focus groups and conduct surveys to gain information about their experience.
- Strategize AI use and presence in learning: Faculty input and feedback should be the basis for AI policies.
- Structure guidance around tool mastery and work/life balance: An increasingly tech-enabled work environment can burden faculty members who lack designated and purpose-built learning spaces to master these tools. Help upskill staff by creating an edtech support group so that no one has to learn on their own.
