Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Viorika Prikhodko

A recent study published in the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration studied the reasons behind professors' decisions to teach online.

What makes a teacher choose online learning? Researchers explain:

"The decision to teach online was investigated and analyzed based on a detailed discrete decision model. According to the mean effects, the statistical differences in faculty members' online-teaching decisions were strongly based on the key variables of faculty general philosophical views and faculty-belief of efficacy. Faculty who have strong beliefs about self-efficacy using online tools were more likely to invest time and apply knowledge to post course materials online, design course web-pages, or create online tests. If faculty members believe that teaching online is a useful option and the students could learn as well or better than in a face-to-face situation, they will most likely overcome time constraints and be motivated to use OCMA effectively compared to faculty who disbelieve the effectiveness of online teaching."

Basically, most teachers realize that creating online learning material will be a significant investment of their time. Those who believe that online learning is a useful model are generally willing to put in the effort needed to be successful.