Skills Needed for Success in Online Teaching: A Qualitative Study of Experienced Instructors

Abstract

Although opportunities for online learning in higher education have increased, variations in the quality of online teaching are likely. Instructors at some institutions might be new to online teaching and/or may lack the necessary supports for creating successful virtual learning environments. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the most valuable skills faculty need to teach successfully online. Instructors (N = 33) with ten or more years of online teaching experience at a highly ranked institution for online education were interviewed about their online teaching experiences. Participants’ responses to the question, “What skills do you think are most valuable for online instructors to have?” were analyzed using a grounded-theory approach with six major themes emerging. These themes are discussed within existing frameworks that have shaped the conceptualization of online teaching skills, including the Community of Inquiry framework (COI), the faculty readiness framework, and the Technology Acceptance Model.