Dim Screens: Fighting Burnout in Online Instruction

Leah Panther

Dea Marx

As you arrive, please complete the Burnout

inventory. You will not be asked to

share your results.

Defining Burnout

Royalty free photographs curtesy of http://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/old-teacher.html

Goals

– Define and illustrate burnout, its causes, and identify the symptoms

– Apply evidence based solutions from the research and professional practice to prevent and mitigate the impact of burnout

Defining Burnout

– Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger “the dedicated and most committed” are the persons most likely to experience burnout in the work place because they are also the same persons that “work too much, too long, and too intensely” (Freudenberger, 1974, p. 161).

– Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment (Maslach, Jackson, Lieter, 1986)

Burnout:The Facts

– 90% of all teachers have experienced some level of burnout (Maslach, Jackson, & Lieter, 1986)

– 25% of teachers in the field are currently experiencing burnout (Bas, 2011)

– One out of four teachers will leave the profession within their first three years of teaching. By year five, the number jumps to one out of every two (Lloyd, 2012; Ramsey, 2000).

– High burnout negatively correlates with students’ academic achievement

Enough about symptoms:

What are the root causes of burnout?

With your GCP’s, brainstorm at least

three causes of online educator

burnout.

Causes of Burnout:Specific to Online Educators– Higher workload (i.e. more students, asynchronous course

delivery, more assessment, compensating for less face to face discussion) (Kolowich, 2011)

– Lack of institutional support and role ambiguity (Fives, Hamman & Olivarez, 2007)

– Increased accountability

– Isolation (Hogan & McKnight, 2007)

– Context (i.e. urban) (Abel & Sewell, 1999)

Causes of Burnout:Not Causes

– Experience teaching online

– Gender

– Educational Level

– Academic Training (McCann & Holt, 2009)

Solutions: Case Studies

Case Study One:Institution’s Role

The new program coordinator starts to put together recommendations for adjuncts to teach the spring semester courses. However, the department chair shares bad news: of the ten recommended instructors only four have been approved based on previous evaluations and of the four, only two have accepted the appointments. The feedback provided includes:

– “I do not feel prepared to take on the workload of another online course. I felt unsuccessful last semester.”

– “It’s hard to know what to do and the online learning management system is too hard to manage well. Let me know if you have any positions that are face to face instead.”

What can the program coordinator and/or department chair do to attract and retain instructors while also preventing current instructors from burning out?

Solutions:Institutions

– Detailed job descriptions

– Chain of communication (i.e. contact person, lead teacher)

– Professional Development activities

– Frequent and complete communication to all instructors

– Adequate resources provided

– Possible solution: Capping course limits

Case Study Two:Couse Management

After your first week of teaching an online course, you are overwhelmed. Despite having only 20 students enrolled in the course, you have over 40 emails asking where things are located on the learning management site, several complaints about not being able to respond to peers’ comments on the discussion board because people aren’t posting until an hour before the due date, and you’re struggling to keep up with the grading. You’re already convinced this will be the first and last online course you teach.

Case Study Two:Course Management

– Organization

– Help! Discussion Board

– Course tour video

– Putting due dates into Course Calendar

– Enabling Starfish to send reminders

– Clear procedures

– Late work policy

– Where to look for answers (DB, syllabus, a study buddy)

– Time Management

– Articulate availability and stick to it

– Consistent due date(s) and times

– Blocking out assessment times

– Rubrics

– “Forgiving” assignments

Case Study Three:Self-Care

Your students react positively to your detailed feedback, your flexibility with due dates, and attempts to build classroom community. However, you’ve found yourself overcommitted to checking your email when you’re out with friends, allowing course planning and management to take over your weekends, and even eating into your other full time job. What was supposed to be one adjunct course is suddenly 40% of your workweek.

Solutions:Self Care

– Limit your availability (i.e. office hours, grading time, course planning time)

– Set a schedule that includes rest and relaxation

– Gradual release of responsibility model (i.e. student led discussions, removing knowledge/recall level assignments when appropriate)

– Unplug (i.e. removing work email from phone, taking off push notifications, checking only certain times)

Stump the Chumps:Q and A

– What additional questions or “case studies” do you have for the good of the order?

Resources

– Abel, M. H., & Sewell, J. (1999). Stress and burnout in rural and urban secondary school teachers. Journal of Educational Research, 92(5), 287.

– Freudenberger, H. (1974). Staff burnout. Journal of Social Issues, 30(1), 159-165.

– Hogan, R. L, & McKnight, M. A. (2007). Exploring burnout among university online instructors: An initial investigation. Internet and Higher Education, 10, 117-124.

– Kolowich, S. (May 2011). Built for distance. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/05/16/online_faculty_burnout

– Maslach, C, Jackson, S., & Leiter, M. P. (1986). MBI: The Maslach burnout inventory: Manual. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Resources

– McCann, J. & Holt, R. (2009). An exploration of burnout among online university professors. Journal of Distance Education, 23(3), 97-110.

– Moore, J. D. (2010). Running on empty: Exploring online educator burnout. American Military University.

– Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2009). Does school context matter? Relations with teacher burnout and job satisfaction. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 25(3), 518-524.

– Timostsuk, I. & Ugaste, A. (2010). Student teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 26(8), 1563-1570.