Exploring the Impact of Mississippi Virtual Community College Academy Professional Development for Online Teaching

As online courses and programs continue to grow in number across Mississippi’s community college system, an examination of the system which trains and supports faculty has gone largely unexamined. The aim of this research was to study the impact of the Mississippi Virtual Community College Academy, the state’s online professional development system, on faculty. Structured interviews were conducted with nine faculty in four community colleges across the state to determine conditions that helped or hindered faculty in their implementation of content learned in online professional development courses on credit-bearing courses they would later teach. Analysis of faculty transcripts indicate faculty have implemented changes due to increased knowledge and confidence, empathy with their students, and being open/flexible to change. Faculty also reported significant challenges for student success attributed to reading comprehension and use of technology