Teacher Satisfaction with Online Mandarin Chinese Courses at National Taiwan Normal University

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(1)Teacher Satisfaction with Online Mandarin Chinese Courses at National Taiwan Normal University. by Carlos Alberto Hosking Pena. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Chih-Chien Steven Lai, Ph. D.. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan June, 2015.

(2) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I dedicate this dissertation to my dear God. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my thesis. I would also like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Chih-Chien Lai. Thanks to the staff of the International Human Resource Development graduate program Kate, Tracy and Jessica for encouraging me to complete this thesis. I really appreciate my dear classmates, Helene, Jeanine, Awa and other classmates who always encouraged me during my studies. Thanks for their support and company. I would also like to thank the Mandarin online teachers who were part the main participants of this study. Thanks for your care and for your contribution to this research. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to my lovely family and friends that have helped me with their care and support. Thanks to my good friend Danneris who I respect and admire. I want to thank my lovely sisters and parents for their trust and guidance because their love motivates me to remain strong and confident. I would like to say “Thank you” and tell you how much I love them. Finally I would like to thank Taiwan ICDF and the government of Taiwan for giving me the opportunity to study in this wonderful country..

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(4) ABSTRACT Many students are interested in learning Mandarin Chinese at the Mandarin Training Center (MTC) which is an extension of National Taiwan Normal University and has become the most popular institution center to study mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of students who enrolled in online courses throughout the world. Therefore, in 2012 MTC developed an online program known as “MTC Online” which is used to teach mandarin Chinese through the Internet. The mandarin teacher satisfaction with online courses is important in terms of the evaluation of the MTC online courses. The purpose of this study aimed to investigate teacher satisfaction with online mandarin Chinese courses. In order to fulfill the research purpose of this study, in-depth interviews were used for this study to explore the satisfaction of ten online teachers with online courses at mandarin training center in NTNU. The results showed the factors that made teachers feel satisfied with the online courses. The identified satisfaction factors were flexibility, learning technology, multimedia functions, financial saving, interactions, learning resources and student performance. The results of this study also found that five online teachers were satisfied with the online courses while one online teacher felt fairly satisfied with the online courses, furthermore two online teachers were not satisfied with the online courses while two other online teachers were very satisfied with the online courses at MTC. The online teachers indicated the difficulties they have encountered in the online courses and made suggestions about how their satisfaction with online courses could be improved. Keywords: teacher satisfaction, online course, mandarin Chinese, MTC. I.

(5) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................I TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... II LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................IV LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... V CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 Background of the Study................................................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................... 3 Purpose of the Study....................................................................................................................... 3 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................ 4 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................... 4 Delimitations and Limitations ....................................................................................................... 5. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 6 Mandarin Language Education for Foreigners in Taiwan............................................................ 6 Mandarin Language Centers in Taiwan ........................................................................................ 7 Online Education Programs and Courses ................................................................................... 11 Online Mandarin Chinese Program of the Mandarin Training Center...................................... 15 Teacher Satisfaction ..................................................................................................................... 19 Teacher Satisfaction Factors with Online Courses ..................................................................... 24 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 30. CHAPTER III RESEARCH DESIGN.................................................................. 31 Research Method .......................................................................................................................... 31 Participants.................................................................................................................................... 31 Instrument ..................................................................................................................................... 33 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................. 34 Validity and Reliability ................................................................................................................ 36 Research Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 36 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 37 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 39. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................................... 41 Experience of the Mandarin Training Center Online Teachers ................................................. 41 II.

(6) Satisfaction of Mandarin Training Center Online Teachers ...................................................... 58 Components to Increase the Satisfaction of MTC Online Teachers ......................................... 60 Satisfaction Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 66 Difficulties and Challenges of the Online Teaching Job Position ............................................. 71 Improvement of Teacher Satisfaction.......................................................................................... 78 Satisfaction Improvement Responsibility ................................................................................... 87 Summary of the Results ............................................................................................................... 89. CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 95 Conclusions................................................................................................................................... 95 Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 99 Suggestions ................................................................................................................................... 99. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 104 APPENDIX A: PILOT STUDY QUESTIONS ................................................... 110 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH ............................. 111 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE .... 112 APPENDIX D: INVITATION LETTER FOR THE INTERVIEWS ............. 113 APPENDIX E: PERMISSION LETTER TO CONDUCT THE STUDY ...... 114 APPENDIX F: NOTIFICATION OF THE STUDY TO ONLINE TEACHERS .................................................................................................................................... 115 APPENDIX G: CODING ....................................................................................... 116. III.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Language Centers in Taiwan by City……………………………….……..………….9 Figure 2.2 Print Screen of MTC Online of NTNU……………………………………..……….16 Figure 3.1 Research Procedure………………………………………………………………….37 Figure 3.2 Initial Coding Process……………………………………………………………….39 Figure 3.3 Second Stage of the Coding Process………………………………………………...39. IV.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Summary of Interviewees………………..………………………………………..….33 Table 3.2 Interview Information List……………………………...…………………………….36. V.

(9) CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitations and delimitations are introduced. The background focuses in mandarin Chinese language education, online courses and satisfaction of teachers.. Background of the Study In the last decades, Taiwan has been promoting the study of Mandarin Chinese in order to increase the number of Mandarin speakers throughout the world. The number of foreign students who decide to study in Taiwanese universities and language centers are increasing due to the importance of the Mandarin Chinese in today’s globalization. Taiwan owns an excellent education system and welcomes international students to study undergraduate, graduate and Mandarin Chinese studies. These mandarin Chinese courses are offered in small sized groups of six to ten students in educational institutions known as mandarin language centers. The Mandarin Language Centers are represented by an outstanding teaching staff, well equipped with Mandarin Chinese teaching certification issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education. Among those language centers, the most popular in Taiwan is the Mandarin Training Center in National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) which is known for its excellent Mandarin Chinese language program where around 1700 international students from over more than fifty countries study during the year. In 1956, The Mandarin Training Center (MTC) was created as an extension of NTNU. This center is one of the world's most distinguished Chinese language study programs. The Mandarin Training Center is located in the university’s main campus known as Heping Campus. The language center's courses involve studies of mandarin Chinese language, literature, calligraphy and arts offered in a three month term throughout the year. The center is well known as the leading institute of the Test of Chinese as Foreign Language TOCFL in Taiwan. The teachers from the Mandarin Training Center have more than two years of teaching experience and own bachelor or master degrees in teaching Mandarin Chinese as a second language teaching. Due to the increase of technology in recent years, many teachers from the Mandarin Training Center have received training in educational technology such as online teaching and multimedia instruction. Online education is defined as the class that uses the online course delivery mode in its 1.

(10) curriculum, moreover it is the transfer of information via the Internet while students and teachers are being connected at the same time (Richardson & Swan, 2003). Technology has played an important role in the development and expansion of online education (Kim & Bonk, 2006). Despite the mandarin Chinese teachers have educational degrees, every year they must attend to lectures, conferences and courses related to Mandarin Chinese teaching. In recent years, the Mandarin Training Center developed an online program known as MTC Online in order to offer flexible and intense Mandarin Chinese courses through the Internet for students who are interested in improving their Chinese language skills. MTC is the only language center in Taiwan that offers online mandarin Chinese courses where students register and pay to receive online courses. Given the fact that there is a rapid growth of online education programs, educational institutions must provide good online programs (Kim & Bonk, 2006). The MTC online program currently offers mandarin Chinese courses to students all over the world by allowing students to use their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices to have access to the courses. The only equipment needed to participate from online learning is a basic computer workstation with an internet connection (Li & Akins, 2004). The courses’ schedule are arranged based on the student’s needs and by the time this study was conducted the MTC only offered classes to not more than 2 students per course. The students can choose online courses such as everyday Chinese, Chinese reading and writing, Chinese for kids, Chinese conversation, Chinese news reading and listening and business Chinese. Research has shown that projections suggest that online courses will increase significantly in educational institutions in the following years (Smart & Cappel, 2006). The online courses are delivered by professors of the Mandarin Training Center who use quality teaching materials in order to deliver professional mandarin Chinese courses. The teacher job position like many other professions is regulated by the ministry of education in Taiwan and mandarin Chinese professors have to complete some education requirements, such as tests and trainings, in order to teach in the language centers. The teaching job position does not only involve working with students but also allows teachers to communicate and work with other faculty members such as academic supervisors, directors, professors, researchers and others. The online teachers play an important role in online courses because they are the ones who deliver the course that was planned and designed by academic staff of the MTC. Many 2.

(11) institutions have been training their teachers to deliver efficient online classes (McQuiggan, 2007). Only online teachers who have been trained are certified to teach online courses. The online teachers are responsible for answering students’ doubts or questions related to mandarin Chinese; reply to the student’s written messages, grade the student’s assignments and tests, solve internet connection issues, respond to messages from faculty members, keep and evaluate the students’ performance. Some of the online teachers’ job tasks are done out of the workplace which leads to comprehend and explore their degree of satisfaction with online courses. The growth of technology in education has been changing the job tasks of online teachers who teach online courses and it is important for educational institutions to comprehend and investigate how satisfied they are with these courses. The job satisfaction of teachers refers when they meet their personal needs and their job performance improves (Ololube, 2006). The studies of teacher’s satisfaction are used to investigate if they are accomplishing their personal and career goals within the educational institution. The job satisfaction of teachers is important for organizations to better understand them and make decisions according to their satisfaction needs. Job satisfaction has been the most studied research area of organizational behavior (Dave & Raval, 2014).. Statement of the Problem A significant number of students have been taking online mandarin Chinese courses using MTC online program and this number is expected to increase in the future. Given this anticipated growth in online mandarin Chinese education, it is important for MTC to ensure that their online teachers are satisfied with their jobs. If the satisfaction of online mandarin teachers is not explored, it may negatively affect the efficiency and quality of the MTC online courses. As the number of online teachers in the MTC online program keeps growing, the mandarin training center must ensure that they are not only satisfied but are also receiving support in their online teaching job. As of the year 2015, the MTC did not know well satisfied or dissatisfied online teachers are with online courses. Given the fact that researchers have demonstrated the importance of teacher satisfaction, it is important to know how well satisfied online teachers are.. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study aims to investigate teacher satisfaction with online mandarin 3.

(12) Chinese courses. This study sought to determine the factors that lead to the satisfaction of online teachers at the mandarin training center; furthermore it also aims to know their satisfaction levels with online courses. To meet this purpose, this research will investigate a) the factors that contribute to the satisfaction of online teachers with online mandarin Chinese courses; b) the reasons that contribute to the online teacher satisfaction; c) the online teachers’ overall satisfaction level with online courses. The results of this study are expected to provide important findings that can be useful for language teachers and academic managers who are interested in understanding teacher satisfaction in mandarin Chinese language centers. Furthermore, the findings intend to offer detailed information that could be used by language centers in order to use strategies to increase teacher satisfaction and retention rates within their institutions. This study will provide useful data to be used for policy development, implementation and evaluation of online courses within educational institutions. This study will be conducted in order to make a contribution to the field of mandarin Chinese education in order to motivate future researchers to conduct similar studies within language centers.. Research Questions Based on the research purpose, the research questions are stated as following: 1. What are the online teachers’ experience with online mandarin Chinese courses? 2. How satisfied are online teachers with mandarin Chinese online courses? 3. What are the factors that lead to online teacher satisfaction with online mandarin Chinese courses? 4. What are the online teachers’ suggestions for improving the teacher satisfaction with online mandarin Chinese courses?. Significance of the Study Due to the fact that MTC online started in the last few years, the satisfaction of online teachers within the center needs to be explored. Few research studies have been conducted to investigate the satisfaction of online faculty in order to comprehend what they think and feel about the factors that make them feel satisfied in their mandarin Chinese online teaching job. 4.

(13) Due to the fact, that other language centers in Taiwan are interested in implementing online mandarin Chinese courses in the following years, these institutions need to understand the satisfaction of teachers with online courses. Satisfaction studies would be helpful for teachers, program managers, academic staff and language centers who are concerned with the quality of their online courses. For the first time, this study focused on online teachers with the opportunity to explore and describe their satisfaction with online courses. This study may be of significance for human resource development or education researchers and professors. This study was conducted to encourage current researchers to make future research papers contributions and use this dissertation as a reference. If researchers understand the facts of online education in mandarin language centers, the findings of this research could help educational institutions not only to improve their online courses but also to attract, train and retain talented online teachers. This study also suggested additional areas for research. Such studies could offer an enhanced picture of the factors that contribute to satisfaction of teachers with online courses.. Delimitations and Limitations The study delimits to investigate the language centers in Taiwan. The study is limited only to the teachers of the Mandarin Chinese Center of NTNU known as Mandarin Training Center. This study was limited to MTC teachers who were teaching online courses of the MTC online program during the year 2015. Among all the mandarin language centers in Taiwan, the researcher chose the Mandarin Training Center because it was the language center that had the largest number of students and teachers in Taiwan and was the only center who provided online mandarin Chinese courses. This study investigated the teachers’ satisfaction of online mandarin Chinese courses.. 5.

(14) CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW In order to serve the needs of this study, the following literature review focused on important aspects of online courses and teacher satisfaction were arranged. This chapter was divided into the following six sections: mandarin language education for foreigners, mandarin language centers in Taiwan, online education programs and courses, online mandarin Chinese program of the mandarin training center, teacher satisfaction and teacher satisfaction factors with online courses.. Mandarin Language Education for Foreigners in Taiwan In the last decades, Taiwan has been promoting the study of mandarin Chinese in order to increase the number of mandarin speakers throughout the world. The mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world over one billion speakers and is the only official language in China, the reading and writing systems of Chinese own unique confrontations to language education (Tian et al., 2010). Taiwan is an island with an area of 35,981 square kilometers and a population of about 21 million people situated 150 kilometers away from the south-eastern coast of the mainland China (Tsao, 1999). The number of foreign students who decide to study in Taiwanese universities and language centers are increasing due to the importance of the mandarin Chinese in today’s globalization. Taiwan owns an excellent education system and welcomes international students to study undergraduate, graduate and mandarin Chinese studies. Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world and it’s used as an official language in China, Taiwan and Singapore. This language is also used by Chinese immigrants who live in other countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines, Mongolia, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In China, this language is known as Pǔtōnghuà “普通話” which means common speech and in Taiwan is known as Guóyǔ “國語”which means national language. Chinese is spoken in different dialects such as Cantonese, Wu, Hokkien “Min Nan” and Hakka, but overall mandarin Chinese is the most spoken throughout the world. The mandarin Chinese language was established by the Kuomintang, one of the political parties in Taiwan, as the only politically legitimate language (Hsiau, 1997). The most important language policy of Kuomintang party was the propagation of mandarin 6.

(15) Chinese as the national language of Taiwan (Tsao, 1999). The high quality of the Taiwanese education is offered at undergraduate and graduate levels. The Taiwanese higher education system allows national and international students to undertake undergraduate studies in universities, colleges and technical colleges in four years and graduate studies in a period of two or more years. The government of Taiwan offers scholarships for international students who wish to study in language centers and universities. The importance of mandarin Chinese education has kept pace with China’s economic development since its modernization process in early 1980’s and more than 2,300 universities in 100 countries teach mandarin Chinese courses as part of their curriculum (Ding & Saunders, 2006).. Mandarin Language Centers in Taiwan The language centers allow students to study mandarin Chinese in the library, classrooms, multimedia rooms, auditoriums, language laboratories, conference rooms, computer laboratories and student lounges. These language laboratories allow students to practice their mandarin Chinese' listening, speaking, reading and writing. The facilities of Taiwan universities include libraries, research centers, audiovisual rooms, conference rooms, cafeterias, shops, health center, exhibition halls, sports and dormitories facilities. Many Taiwanese education institutions have exchange programs with sister institutions around the world in order to enhance academic cooperation. The exchange students who come to Taiwan want to learn the language due to employment, business, cultural and historical reasons. The exchange students have the opportunity to study mandarin Chinese in mandarin Language centers. Many of the students have learned the language before and they are welcomed to join the intermediate and advanced level classes. This educational institutions sponsor mandarin Chinese art performances, speech contests, workshops and school trips throughout the year. These mandarin Chinese courses are conducted in small sized groups of approximately ten students. The foreign students can study mandarin Chinese in language centers throughout the country and there are currently more than twenty-five language centers in Taiwan. The students are placed in classes based on their mandarin Chinese proficiency level. The language centers operate in academic terms of three months each. The terms are fall which begins in September; winter, which begins in December; spring, which begins in March 7.

(16) and summer, which begins in June. The language centers offer mandarin classes every semester and provide courses in different levels. The levels of the mandarin Chinese language courses are basic, intermediate, high intermediate and advanced. Every language center offers basic level classes who are particularly designed for beginners. During this level, students learn the bopomofo, hanyu pinyin, the mandarin tones and Chinese characters. The basic level students also study daily mandarin Chinese conversation and learn around 800 vocabulary words. During the intermediate level, students study advanced mandarin Chinese grammar and learn around 16,000 vocabulary words. In this level, the students can read and understand simple readings in mandarin Chinese. During the high intermediate level, students enhance their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. In this level, the students learn around 2,800 vocabulary words and are able to understand newspapers, television programs. During the advanced level, students have a high level of mandarin Chinese reading, listening, speaking and writing. The advanced level students can read and understand more than 5,000 vocabulary words. In the advanced level, students can understand business, economic, sports, entertainment, arts and literature materials in mandarin Chinese. The language centers in Taipei are: National Taipei University of Education, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University, Chinese Culture University, Tamkang University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Ming Chuan University, Taipei Chengshih University of Science and Technology and China University of Science and Technology. The language centers in Kaoshiung are: National Kaoshiung Normal University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, National University of Kaoshiung, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, I-Shou University and Kao Yuan University. Taichung’s language centers are: National Chung Hsing University, Tunghai University, Feng Chia University, Providence University and National Taichung University of Education. The language centers in Taoyuan are Lunghwa University of Science and Technology and Kainan University. In Hsinchu, the language centers are National Chiao Tung and Chung Hua University. In Jhonli, two language centers can be found at National Central University and Chung Yuan Christian University. Tainan’s language centers in Tainan are National Cheng Kung University, Kun Shan University and Southern Taiwan University of Technology. Chiayi has a language center at National Chiayi University and Yilan has one at Fo Guang University. Pingtung’s 8.

(17) language centers can be found at National Pingtung University of Education and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology. There is a mandarin language center in Hualien at Tzu Chi University. The number of language centers by city is shown in the Figure 2.1.. Figure 2.1 Language centers in Taiwan by city. Adapted from https://studyintaiwan.org (2013).. Current Roles of the Teachers of Mandarin Language Centers The Mandarin Language Centers are represented by an outstanding teaching staff, well equipped with mandarin Chinese teaching certification issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, as well as with a wide teaching experience. The teachers who work in the language centers throughout Taiwan have at least two or more years of teaching experience. The language teachers own bachelor and master degrees in teaching mandarin Chinese as a second language teaching and have received training for the Ministry of Education. During their undergraduate and graduate studies, the teachers studied in Taiwan and some in China, Singapore, such as other countries. Due to the increase of technology in recent years, many teachers have received training in modern teaching such as online teaching and multimedia instruction. Despite they already have educational degrees, every year they must attend to lectures, conferences and courses related to mandarin Chinese teaching. The mandarin Chinese is taught by teachers who want their students to master the language while also learn about the Taiwanese culture. Some of the teachers in the language centers have 9.

(18) more than twenty years of experience and still use traditional teaching methods. In recent years, the teachers have been using new teaching methods in order to make learning more effective. During the small sized group classes, the teachers evaluate every student' reading, writing, speaking and listening. The mandarin Chinese teachers have included learning materials in the learning process such as movies, songs, poems, newspapers and magazines of Taiwan, China and Singapore for the students. Furthermore, other supplementary materials such as restaurant menus, health and banks forms, newspaper advertisements are used in class to help students with their daily life in Taiwan. Mandarin Chinese instruction requires teachers to teach both culture and language contents. The teachers emphasize in teaching both language and culture because it helps students understand the terminology and history of the mandarin Chinese language. In recent years, online course designers have been creating mandarin Chinese programs for foreign students and teachers. The programs include mobile dictionaries, games and flashcards. The students in the language centers own smart phones, iPod and tablets. Some of the students bring the devices to the class and may use the devices for learning or other purposes. The students use the mobile applications for different purposes such as learn new vocabulary, understand the meaning of a character, how to pronounce words, play mandarin Chinese games, practice handwriting and translate phrases and words.. Mandarin Training Center of National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University is a famous university in Taiwan recognized as an elite institution. This institution was founded in 1946 in the capital city of Taiwan known as Taipei. This educational institution was originally known as Taiwan Provincial Teachers College and the purpose was to train outstanding teachers for the Chinese secondary education system. In 1967, the name of the institution changed to National Taiwan Normal University. This university has trained and educated many important Taiwanese teachers and researchers. Nowadays, NTNU encompasses three campuses in the northern part of the island. The Heping campus known as the main campus, Gongguan campus and Linkou campus are part of this prestigious university. This institution has ten colleges that include thirty-two departments and twenty-two graduate institutes. NTNU is a public university known for the variety of degrees and courses in education, arts, sociology, athletics, business management, science and technology. This prestigious university's fundamental mission is to educate and prepare Taiwan's future 10.

(19) teachers. Since the institution's foundation, many important Taiwanese authors, poets, artists, musicians and researchers have studied undergraduate and graduate curriculums in NTNU. The university has many exchange programs with sister institutions around the world in order to enhance academic cooperation. This educational institution does not only attract Taiwanese students to study but also foreign students decide to study at NTNU. NTNU is known for its mandarin Chinese language program where around 1,700 students from over more than fifty countries study during the year. In 1956, the mandarin Training Center “MTC” was created as an extension of NTNU. This center is one of the world's most distinguished Chinese language study programs. The mandarin training center is located in NTNU's main campus known as Heping Campus. The MTC's courses involve studies of Chinese language, literature, calligraphy and arts offered in a three month term throughout the year. The center is well known as the leading institute of the test of Chinese as foreign language in Taiwan. Every year, MTC allows students to study in four different terms to undertake language studies during summer or winter breaks. In order to enhance academic cooperation, the MTC offers scholarships to international students who wish to learn the Chinese language. During their studies at MTC, students have the opportunity to use a variety of Chinese learning materials such as textbooks, dictionaries, newspapers, journals. The facilities of the MTC are located on the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth floor of the Bo-ai building of NTNU's main campus.. Online Education Programs and Courses According to Moore and Kearsley (2011), the terms programs and courses are constantly used in distance education, courses are created at all levels of distance education and an educational institution and consortium will use the term program to indicate the total offering of courses. An online course is a course which eighty percent or more of its content is delivered through the internet (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009). An online course is offered in part or totally through the Internet (Umass, 2002). The growth of households that own computers with internet access within the United States has facilitated online education (Herbert, 2006). The world wide web also known as internet, has become an important method to deliver education and provides new learning experiences for students (Ali, 2011). In a distance education the course is based on the practices and procedures of the institution, while a program refers to audio or television 11.

(20) programs that belongs to a course (Moore & Kearsley, 2011). The technology used to provide online courses has increased in terms of quality (Southern Regional Education Board, 2006). Since online education is conducted through the internet, many educational institutions have implemented e-learning in their curriculum in order to meet students’ needs especially for those who work in full time jobs (Sun et al., 2008). Online courses are taught entirely online and teachers and students rarely meet face-to-face, sometimes they may not never meet in person (Umass, 2002). The technology within online courses may produce printed media, such as books or guides, programs, of audio, videocassettes, radio, television broadcasts, computer software, audio, audio-graphic, videoconferencing among others (Moore & Kearsley, 2011). In webenhanced courses, also known as online courses, students have more responsibilities than in faceto-face environments because they have to do several tasks such as download course material, be part of online discussions among others (Hermans et al., 2009). Rothman et al. (2011) reported that the environment of an online course is important for the success of a program; furthermore the growth and use of online courses within university has grown in a dramatic manner in the last ten years. The universities and colleges have created courses and online programs in order to serve a student population that is dispersed geographically (Roach & Lemasters, 2006). Herbert (2006) indicated that institutions have used online technologies to offer courses to students who can’t be present in a classroom. Song and Bosselman (2011) reported that ninetysix percent of higher education institutions in the United States, offer over 15,000 online courses and that at least three million students enroll in those courses every semester. By the year 2006, around thirty-five of higher education institutions offered online courses (Bollinger & Wasilik, 2009). Strachota (2006) indicated that measuring online courses outcomes through online survey research can be efficient. As computers became involved in the provision of education and new technologies developed, online teachers are needed to provide lessons in online learning environments (Dickson-Deane & Galyen, 2010). According to Wallace (2003), since the 1990’s, online university courses have been increasing due its popularity in the field of education, moreover before online environments were available for users, interaction was difficult to accomplish in distance education courses because the only methods of distance education were mail courses and television broadcasts by involving few opportunities for interaction with the teacher and 12.

(21) students. The first online course was offered in 1981 (Wallace, 2003; Dickson-Deane & Galyen, 2010). According to Wilson and Stacey (2004), modern technologies have modified the nature of open and distance education in the last decades by producing a manner for communities of learners and their teachers to communicate with one another in spite of being in different geographical spots. In the past decades, the society has embraced new forms of communications due to the wide variety of tools available through the Internet (Dickson-Deane & Galyen, 2010). Recent articles in journals and professional magazines advocate in favor of online education (Wallace, 2003). Research has indicated that this century represents important changes in how learning takes place and how is delivered (Dickson-Deane & Galyen, 2010). Research has shown that projections suggest that online courses will increase significantly in educational institutions in the following years (Smart & Cappel, 2006). Research in the field of online education has mentioned that this type of education has many advantages such as the convenience and flexibility offered by the institutions and teachers (Richardson & Swan, 2003). The researcher also emphasized that online learning has the potential to promote reflective thoughts and deep learning and is more efficient than the face-to-face traditional method. Richardson and Swan (2003) reported that online learning environments are cost effective and more convenient than traditional education environments, furthermore they emphasized that one of the advantages of online education is that students have the capability to work at their own pace, furthermore they can store and retrieve information more effectively. Many teachers agree that online education came to stay (Henry & Meadows, 2008). There has been an increase of online education in many places because online learning has attracted different groups of individuals for different purposes (Li & Akins, 2004). Wallace (2003) reported that colleges and universities from different countries have been offering courses through the Internet. Given the fact that there is a rapid growth of online education programs, educational institutions must provide good online programs (Kim & Bonk, 2006). Educational institutions have been implementing online education curriculums (Vonderwell & Zachariah, 2005). According to Johnson and Aragon (2003), a strong online learning environment must include a compound of the following standards: (1) point individual differences; (2) encourage the student; (3) prevent information overload; (4) build a real-life scenario; (5) motivate social interaction; (6) offer hands-on activities and (7) encourage student reflection. Universities have been using 13.

(22) active modes of learning that demands students to develop their computing skills (Drennan, Kennedy & Pisarki, 2005). Kim and Bonk (2006) indicated that in the United States, many educational institutions have embraced online education and the number of students enrolled in online education is rapidly increasing. Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2014) indicated that more higher education institutions in the United States have implemented online courses that involve degree programs. Online courses are part of the academic curriculum and the school is the one that determines the right and validity of the subject matter and delivery methods (Dargham et al., 2012).. Benefits and Challenges of Online Courses Online education provides many educational opportunities such as collaborative learning, student-centered learning, and easy access to global resources, learning through multimedia presentations, accessible for students who are non-traditional (Umass, 2002). Online education enhances student-student interaction and faculty-student communication; enables studentcentered teaching approaches; offers 24/7 accessibility to course materials, offers just in time methods to assess and evaluate student progress; among others (Blackboard Inc, 1999). Mohammadi, Ghobani and Hamidi (2010) reported twelve advantages of e-learning: (1) it is a student focused teaching process where the role of the teacher is to guide and facilitate the teaching process; (2) it is convenient for students to access class materials anytime and anywhere; (3) it is a type of cooperative learning; (4) it is a fast, dynamic and diminishes the expenses; (5) fosters self-paced learning where students can learn at their own pace; (6) fosters interaction between learners and teachers; (7) contains all sources and tools such as virtual courses and simulations; (8) enrollment, supervision and tuition activities are done through the Internet; (9) the courses can be prepared by various teachers from different geographical positions; (10) students can learn more than one major or specialty; (11) it increases the motivation of students especially when learning a new language; (12) it offers flexibility, convenience. In terms of teaching online, this new concept in education provides the opportunity to think about teaching in new ways, offers ideas and techniques to implement in traditional courses, offers the opportunity to expand the curriculum, offers convenience for teachers and provides them professional satisfaction (Umass, 2002). Online education face challenges related to support, resourcing and systems (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2012). The 14.

(23) challenges in online education must be disposed to meet the requirements of teaching online courses. In order to face and overcome those challenges, teachers must become familiar with the technology that is used in the online course, they have to use the online medium to their advantage and keep interacting with the students (Umass, 2002). Some of the issues of online course delivery involved copyright issues, learning how to use software, develop meaningful assessment techniques, and provide clear instructions among others (Haugen et al., 2001). Orleans (2014) stated that there were several challenges related with incorporating emerging technologies into online courses such as identifying new methods to improve online courses, learning how to implement an effective teaching method, finding the institutional financial resources, providing formal training in new technologies is expensive.. Online Mandarin Chinese Program of the Mandarin Training Center The mandarin training center developed an online program known as MTC Online, see Figure 2.2. MTC online is used to teach mandarin Chinese through the Internet. The MTC online was designed to offer flexible and intense courses for learners who are interested in improving their mandarin. The MTC online teaching staff can arrange the class schedule based on the students’ suggestion and needs. This online education program started in 2012 in order to meet the current demands of students who were interested in learning mandarin Chinese through online courses. Before the online system was officially launched, the center offered mandarin Chinese online pilot courses to individuals from universities of different countries such as United States, Thailand, Netherlands and Panama in 2011. A print screen of the MTC online is shown in the Figure 2.2.. 15.

(24) Figure 2.2 Print screen of MTC online of NTNU. This system allows international students from all over the world to take online courses without leaving their home countries by only having access to the internet. The pilot courses were offered during one year and 117 students from the countries mentioned before took the classes. Students who are in Taiwan or in any other country can take real-time mandarin Chinese courses offered by professors from the mandarin Training Center. The mandarin training center has been promoting the MTC online program through the Internet (social networks, websites, newspapers and magazines,) in order to recruit new students who are interested in mandarin Chinese. Due to the popularity of the mandarin training center, many international students wanted the language center to offer an online course curriculum. Some of those international students have studied in the mandarin training center and due to the 16.

(25) fact that they still want to continue their studies but can’t be in Taiwan, they have chosen to join the online courses. Other international students have never been in Taiwan but have heard about the mandarin Chinese online courses offered by MTC and decided to join because they want to learn the language. The online courses are offered 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 sessions which means that the course is delivered by one mandarin Chinese teacher and one or two student can join the class. According to the MTC online policies, more than three students can’t join the online courses by the time this study was conducted. The online courses have a strong emphasis on mandarin Chinese listening, reading, speaking and writing. The online courses are delivered by professional teachers who have received training in online education. The MTC online teaching staff uses quality teaching materials in order to deliver professional mandarin Chinese courses. In order to take the online courses, students are not required to buy textbooks because the teachers use power point presentations and send them the learning materials. Before an online course begins, a student has a thirty to sixty minutes interview with the mandarin Chinese teacher. The purpose of the interview is to explain the student how to use the online platform, to meet the teacher; talk about the learning needs in order to allow teachers prepare the course based on the student’s qualifications. The MTC online system allow students to choose different type of courses that have been designed for the students based on their level of mandarin Chinese. The mandarin Training Center also designs online courses based on students’ specific learning needs. The MTC online course also delivers diplomas for the students who have completed the MTC online courses. The courses available for students are known as business mandarin Chinese, everyday mandarin Chinese, mandarin Chinese news reading and listening, mandarin Chinese reading and writing, mandarin Chinese conversation and mandarin Chinese for kids. The business mandarin Chinese course allows students not only to comprehend the Chinese business etiquettes but also to learn how to communicate with work colleagues or customers. Moreover the business mandarin Chinese course includes the essential vocabulary used in the business for students who are looking for an employment, who want to conduct negotiations or who have to make business trips. The everyday mandarin Chinese course allows students to do not only learn the basic daily life conversation, but also helps them to develop their speaking skills. Furthermore during this course, the students learn the pronunciation system 17.

(26) and get familiar with the daily topic vocabulary. The mandarin Chinese news reading and listening course allows students not only to learn the news vocabulary through reading and listening, but also focuses in increasing the student’s comprehension of the newspaper content. The mandarin Chinese reading and writing course not only focuses on the student’s writing abilities through syntax and paragraph writing practices, but also focuses on the student’s reading comprehension of short and long texts. Furthermore, this course emphasizes on teaching practical daily life mandarin Chinese vocabulary. The mandarin Chinese conversation course not only allow students to learn the simple expressions for daily life, but also learn how to respond daily life questions. The MTC online for kids’ course allow parents who want their child to learn mandarin Chinese. The courses are categorized in two groups: the 8 to 11 years old group and the 12 to 15 years old group. The 8 to 11 years old course not only provides interactive classroom activities but also teaches kids how to speak in mandarin Chinese. The 12 to 15 years old course not only focuses on the kids’ writing abilities but also teaches them Chinese culture through interactive class activities. Moreover, the kids learn how to use vocabulary and syntax correctly, through reading and listening exercise. The MTC online program guarantees a great learning experience because students can use their desktops, laptops, iOS and android mobile devices to take the courses. The MTC online students must have the following operating systems in order to have access to the courses: Microsoft windows, Linux, Macintosh, Google Android or Apple IOS. Before the courses begin, the students must be sure they have the right electronic devices along with headphones, webcams and microphones furthermore they must use one of the following web browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome. MTC online uses the platform adobe connect who is a software used to create presentations, online training materials, web conferences, learning courses, among others. Kokoc et al. (2011) indicated that adobe connect allows texts, audio and visual participation; furthermore it has extra features such as filesharing, whiteboard, poll and quiz functions. The adobe connect platform allows online teachers to deliver engaging and interactive learning experiences for the learners. This platform easily allows students to join class sessions without downloading a specific software, they just have to use a web browser with Internet connection. The adobe connect also allows users to deliver courses for small or large groups. 18.

(27) The adobe connect platform allows users to deliver education content in multiple meeting rooms where teachers can use audiovisual conferences, share their computer screen, record the sessions, write notes, chat, create quizzes and pools among other functions. The MTC online courses are delivered in meeting rooms which are online applications where users can join by just using their web browser and using a specific hyperlink. Once the students join the meeting rooms, they can see and hear the teacher, and also have the opportunity to watch and listen to videos, microsoft power point presentations among other multimedia interactions. The mandarin teachers also use the platform as a whiteboard because they draw, write text and share images for the students.. Teacher Satisfaction Malik et al. (2010) specified that job satisfaction has been studied throughout the world in management literature and emphasized that job satisfaction studies within academic institutions are more important. Job satisfaction has been the most studied research area of organizational behavior (Dave & Raval, 2014). Most of the job satisfaction studies conducted in the last eighty years have focused on organizational and industrial settings; furthermore job satisfaction in the education field has been studied in primary and secondary education teachers (Platsidou & Diamantopoulou, 2009). By the year 1994, there were more than 12,400 research articles and thesis dissertations about job satisfaction (Castillo & Cano, 2004). The job satisfaction research topic has been an area of particular interest among organizational managers (Foor & Cano, 2011). Ololube (2006) defined job satisfaction of teachers when professors meet their own needs and improve their job and teaching performance. According to Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2013), many researchers have emphasized that satisfaction of online teachers is an important topic in the education field. Research studies about teacher satisfaction have been conducted in the last fifteen years (Ambrose et al., 2005; Zembylas & Papanastasiou, 2006; Alzaidi, 2006; Toohey & McGill, 2014; Dave & Raval, 2014; Hooker & Johnson, 2011; Song & Bossellman, 2011; Castillo & Cano, 2004; Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009; Borup & Stevens, 2014; Mueller, 2013; Malik et al., 2010; Platsidou & Diamantopoulou, 2010; Foor & Cano, 2011; Avgerinou, 2010; Ololube, 2006; Usop et al., 2013). Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) reported that there is literature of faculty satisfaction in the online learning environment, but insisted that more satisfaction studies involving the education field must be conducted. 19.

(28) Faculty satisfaction refers when faculty members consider online teaching effective and beneficial for the organization (Sloan consortium, 2009). The teacher position is the key element in the educational system due to its job responsibilities, moreover the entire performance of universities rely upon their teachers and their job satisfaction along with their commitment (Malik et al., 2010). Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) concluded that faculty satisfaction varies significantly from teacher to teacher. Alzaidi (2006) reported that it is indispensable for teachers to feel satisfaction when they carry out their duties. Wasilik, Inan and Basilik (2013) found that teachers were generally satisfied with their online teaching experience. In terms of the teacher satisfaction, they are satisfied when they are recognized for the job they are doing (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009). The teacher’s positive attitude to teaching and higher aspiration degree defines his positive perception of the environments (Usop et al., 2013). Evans (1998) found that a sense of personal achievement of teachers was associated with satisfaction. Satisfaction needs and motivation are very important in teachers’ lives furthermore, teachers do not only work to satisfy their needs in life but also constantly feel concerned about satisfaction (Ololube, 2006). Sahin and Shelley (2008) referred to online distance education satisfaction as the level of how much individuals were satisfied with distance education. Faculty satisfaction is a key element in terms of the evaluation of online courses and could be used to analyze the quality of online courses (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009). The teachers’ ability to manage online course activities can also positively impact their satisfaction (Borup & Stevens, 2014). According to Evans (1998), teachers do not only have the same levels of commitment to their jobs but also perceive things differently. Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) suggested that faculty members should keep adequate satisfaction levels with online teaching in order to offer online students a high-quality learning experience. It is very important to boost teachers’ performance by understanding the teachers’ satisfaction (Mallik et al., 2010). Ololube (2006) reported that the relevance of job satisfaction along with motivation are very crucial to the long term within educational systems of the world. Job satisfaction is a very important matter within the educational field, especially for school teachers due to their role which is time consuming in and outside of school (Alzaidi, 2006). Foor and Cano (2011) suggested that in the academic field, individuals such as deans, directors, department chairs among others should be concerned with the job satisfaction of employees.. 20.

(29) People are the most important resource for the success of an organization and it is essential to track on their feelings, attitude and performance (Dave & Raval, 2013).It is important that universities and colleges monitor the degrees of satisfaction of their employees (Hannover research, 2012). The issues related to the teachers will directly have an impact on their satisfaction (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009). According to Olodube (2006), in teaching environments, the job satisfaction can be influenced by several factors such as the relationship of teachers with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment of their job, the level of fulfillment in their work, among others. Alzaidi (2006) found that the main factors that have contributed to job satisfaction among head teachers involved work conditions, supervision and relationships. Dave and Raval (2014) reported that it is important for organizations to identify if their employees are satisfied or not and in order to study the job satisfaction of faculty members, it is essential to identify the factors that influence such satisfaction. The satisfaction of online courses can be known through evaluation. Sampson et al. (2010) indicated that due to the increase of online education, there is a greater need for more evaluation of online courses and programs. Teacher surveys can show the faculty approval of online learning (Sloan consortium, 2009). The job satisfaction survey is a tool to examine if an employee is happy with his job or not (Dave & Raval, 2014). Sources of job satisfaction in teaching seem to have a greater impact on the job performance of the teachers (Olodube, 2006). Isik (2006) emphasized that comprehending the factors that influence user’s satisfaction with online courses is a key issue for researchers.. Studies about Teacher Satisfaction with Online Courses Some of the teacher satisfaction with online courses have been conducted in educational institutions in the United States (Bolliger, Inan & Wasilik, 2014; Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009; Borup & Stevens, 2014; Alameda & Rose, 2000; Kashy et al. 2000; Hartman & Truman-David, 2000; Fredericksen et al. 2000). Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2014) emphasized that the satisfaction of online teachers is an important topic in education due to its potential to influence the quality of teaching and student outcomes. They developed a measure of teacher satisfaction in terms of online teaching in order to develop and validate an instrument that measures satisfaction of teachers who teach online courses. According to Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2014), the teacher satisfaction with teaching online course has an impact on the quality of course offerings and delivery. 21.

(30) Their instrument was delivered to 168 teachers who taught online courses in a public western university of the United States. The questionnaire included 27 items and 5 dimensions which were: instructor-to-student interaction, affordances, institutional support, student-to-student interaction and course design-development-teaching. The online instructor satisfaction measure developed by Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2014) was proved to be a good factor structure and high internal reliability coefficients for the instrument itself and its subscales. The final Online Instructor Satisfaction Measure’s reliability was high (.87). They suggested that future researchers could use the scale to survey online instructors in different settings such as community colleges, private universities, or business and industry. The previous mentioned researchers also conducted a study about teacher satisfaction at a public research university in the United States in 2009. According to Bolliger and Wasilik (2009), it is important to investigate the teacher satisfaction with online courses on a continuous basis. A total of one hundred two online teachers responded to the online faculty satisfaction survey. Their study’ questionnaire included open-ended questions which were analyzed using open coding and classified into categories. They found that student-related aspects that contributed to teacher satisfaction of online courses were student participation, interaction, motivation and involvement. They also found that teacher-related aspects that contributed to teacher satisfaction of online courses were managing classes more easily, being faced with new challenges, learning and teaching with and about technology, expanding professional development opportunities, and working with supportive colleagues. The findings of Bolliger and Wasilik’s (2009) also indicated that there was a moderately positive level of teacher satisfaction with online teaching. They stated that teacher satisfaction is an important element in the evaluation of online courses and programs because it is used to examine the quality of the online courses offerings; furthermore the individuals’ personality factors may influence preferences for different teaching environments. The previous mentioned researchers also conducted a research about teacher satisfaction at a western university in the United States in 2009. Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) conducted a study to develop and validate an instrument to perceive teacher satisfaction in online environments, furthermore their research aimed to identify and confirm factors that affected the satisfaction of online teachers at a small research university in the United States. The online faculty satisfaction survey “OFSS” was 22.

(31) developed by the researchers and was delivered to all the teachers who had taught online courses. The findings of Bolliger and Wasilik (2009) confirmed that the three factors that affected teacher satisfaction with online courses were student-related, teacher-related and institution-related factors. Two researchers from George Mason University conducted a study about the teacher satisfaction in an online school in the United States. Borup and Stevens (2014) examined factors that influenced teacher satisfaction at an online charter high school in the United States. Based on data analysis of 22 interviews from 11 teachers, they identified five factors that influenced teacher satisfaction: flexibility, support, communication, control and design, and student performance (Borup & Stevens, 2014). Two other researchers from the University of California conducted a study about teacher satisfaction with online courses. Alameda and Rose (2000) described a case study of teacher satisfaction in fourteen online writing courses in the University of California. They analyzed the data based on 15 interview questions about teacher satisfaction and mentioned critical factors, both at program and individual course level. The critical factors that influenced teacher satisfaction with online courses at the program level were: course selection, instructor selection, marketing, interface design, reliability for technology, administrative support of instructors, administrative support of students, course design and instructor compensation. The critical factors that influenced teacher satisfaction with online courses at the individual course level were: instructor expertise, instructor responsiveness, instructor technical proficiency, and student technical proficiency, reliability for technology, support of instructors, and support of students, course design, and instructor compensation. Several researchers from Michigan State University in the United States conducted a case study about the teacher satisfaction with online courses. Kashy et al. (2000) reported factors that increased teacher satisfaction based on a case study in Michigan State University and concluded that teachers are more satisfied when it is easy to move to an on-line environment. Two researchers from University of Central Florida explored the factors related to the satisfaction of teachers with online courses. Hartman and Truman-Davis (2001) conducted a study about factors related to the satisfaction of teachers in university of central Florida and reported that development time, interaction, gender, reward systems, support had a significant correlation with faculty satisfaction. Hartman and Truman-Davis (2001) indicated that due to the fact that online 23.

(32) courses can require greater faculty effort than face-to-face courses, it is possible that teachers who have thought many online courses or those who have many online students, may indicate low levels of satisfaction. Hartman and Truman-Davis (2001) reported that teacher-student interaction is very important in any teaching setting such as online courses. Several researchers from the state of New York in the United States conducted a research about the satisfaction of teachers with online courses. Fredericksen et al. (2000) explored the factors that contributed to the high level of teacher satisfaction in the learning network of state university of New York which is an online instructional program created for all the 64 colleges of that university in the United States. The online teachers in the learning network of state university of New York completed a teacher satisfaction survey. The researchers found that the factors that significantly contributed to teachers satisfaction were student performance, level of student interaction in the course, reason for choosing to teach on-line, satisfaction with the learning network of state university of New York, a positive perception of the effects of the technology, low levels of technical difficulties, and how well the faculty got to know their students. Fredericksen et al. (2000) indicated that having an interest in the Internet, technology, or on-line teaching itself is more closely associated with higher levels of satisfaction than other factors.. Teacher Satisfaction Factors with Online Courses For offering the coming study’s foundation, the following paragraph discovered several dimensions of teachers’ satisfaction with online courses. They were institution support, teacherstudent interaction, course quality, flexibility, and student performance. Each construct was discussed as following.. Institution Support The institution support has been cited frequently in the faculty satisfaction literature in terms of institutional policies, technical support, training, adequate tools, release time, fair compensation and rewards in general (Bolliger, Inan & Wasilik, 2014). The institution support has been an important factor within a higher education environment (Parsazadeh et al., 2013). According to Basilik, Inan and Wasilik (2014), the satisfaction of teachers in terms of the institution support is derived from the amount, quality, and timeless of support provided by their 24.

(33) organizations to assist them in the design and delivery of online courses efficiently and effectively. The institution support has been an important factor because the organization commitment determines organization effort and seriousness of the implementation of e-learning programs (Alhomod & Shafi, 2013). O’Neil, Singh and O’ Donoghue (2004) concluded that e-learning had an important impact on the structure of higher education institutions. The educational institutions must convince academic staff to engage with and accept the use of information and communication technology in their teaching (Al & Smedley, 2012). The management department in schools have to create conditions in which teachers can continue to grow and learn as professionals (Cheok & Wong, 2015). Borup and Stevens (2014) mentioned that the institution support could have a positive effect on teacher satisfaction. Therefore, when the institutions supports the teachers, they can feel satisfied. The online courses within educational institutions offer faculty opportunities for personal and professional growth (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009). McQuiggan (2007) reported that many institutions have been training their teachers to deliver efficient online classes. The provision of training for teachers is used to support the teacher. Bolliger, Inan and Wasilik (2014) suggested that administrators must monitor the levels of satisfaction of online teachers because they are important in the universities. According to Song and Bosselman (2011), the faculty’s satisfaction is generally high when an institution values the online teaching and when policies that were carried out support the faculty. According to Bolliger and Wasilik (2009), the faculty satisfaction is generally high when the educational institution values online teaching and owns policies and rules that support the faculty. The administrative and technical support has been important for the satisfaction of teachers (Borup & Stevens, 2014). In online environments, the faculty must ensure the following components: (1) the credentials of the online faculty are somehow equal to those of the faculty who teach face-to-face; (2) the online faculty is made of a similar combination of full and parttime faculty; (3) the online class size is around the same as face-to-face classes; (4) the online instruction is faculty-led, which means the provision of international learning, (5) the online faculty engages in governance, particularly in establishing the design, delivery, content, assessment and improvement of courses (Sloan consortium, 2009). Rothman et al. (2011) indicated that teacher-student interaction is one of the most key aspects 25.

(34) of online education. According to Basilik, Inan and Wasilik (2013), the satisfaction of teachers in terms of the teacher-student interaction is derived from the format, type, frequency, and quality of two-way communication and interaction with online students to facilitate student engagement and learning. In an online environment, both the teacher and student share information one another (Ladyshewsky, 2013). Experienced online teachers identified the following approaches to improve student-teacher interaction and emphasized that online teachers must present themselves as accessible to students of the online course; they must schedule an in-person meeting with the students; generate constant communication and assign discussion group or team leaders to ease the group work (Umass, 2002). Sun et al. (2008) indicated that one of the great advantages of e-learning includes liberating interactions between students and teachers. In the facilitator role an individual is the one who engages learners in the learning process, while in the catalyst role the instructor is the one who initiates conversations and finally in the learner role the instructor engages and learns with others in the online environment (Conceição, 2007). Strachota (2006) indicated that the student-interaction is necessary for communication and for content clarification. Moore and Kearsley (2011) mentioned that in education there must be a communication between a teacher, teaching team and student or students. Borup and Stevens (2014) concluded that teacher’s favorite part of teaching was the opportunity to have a closer one on one communication with students. The teacher-student interaction involves feedback which could be verbal or written comments made by the teacher to inform the student about their performance in the course (Ladyshewsky, 2013). Online students may study the course materials and interact with teachers from their workplaces, households, classrooms, education centers or when they travel (Moore & Kearsley, 2011). When there is interaction between two individuals, communication is also involved. The teacher-student communication is an important element of online learning that can increase teacher satisfaction (Borup & Stevens, 2014). According to Hermans et al. (2009), in online environments students want to interact with the teacher and want to ensure that they can provide the expected work in an easy manner. Moore and Kearsley (2011) emphasized the importance of online students to have sufficient interaction with their teachers in order to exchange ideas and information. Sahin and Shelley (2008) suggested that institutions and teachers must pay attention to the factors that affect student satisfaction of online courses. The student’s outcome is a 26.