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Emerging Online Learning Environments and Student Learning: An Analysis of Faculty Perceptions

New educational technologies and online learning environments (OLEs) are infiltrating today’s college classes and campuses. While research has examined many aspects of this permeation, one research gap exists. How do faculty perceive the learning experience in courses that use OLEs compared to courses that do not? One important factor that may influence faculty perceptions are their reasons for teaching with OLEs. This paper seeks to understand how faculty perceive OLEs as a function of their reasons for teaching with this educational technology. This paper also investigates whether faculty evaluations of OLEs differ based on gender and by years teaching. The results of the analysis reveal several noteworthy patterns. First, it appears that favorable opinions about the learning experiences in online learning environments are not because faculty are motivated to learn about new technologies per se, but because they want to update their vitas and teaching skills. Second, the results suggest that it may be harder to convince older and more experienced faculty to use new technologies compared to younger and less experienced faculty. These results apply to both male and female faculty and provide practical implications for universities and support services on how to recruit and then support faculty who implement educational technologies.