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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences related to the creation and maintenance of the online drafting program through the eyes of the drafting instructors involved. The phenomenological approach to qualitative inquiry as described by Patton (2002) and Merriam (2002) was used to guide this study. Interviews were conducted as the primary method of data collection and were considered the most appropriate method to describe the lived experiences of the drafting instructors. The three people that were directly involved in the creation and maintenance of the online drafting program served as the participants in this qualitative study. The researcher utilized the constant comparative method of data analysis. The major emergent categories from the data were rapid change, support, and freedom. There were two themes within each category as well. The thick and rich descriptions of the experiences given by the participants allowed the researcher to describe the phenomenon of the online drafting program of study. The researcher used the ADDIE model as the conceptual framework in this study and found that the experiences were relative to the phases of this model. This was presented through discussing how the emergent categories and themes from the data analysis were associated to each phase of the ADDIE model.There were several conclusions drawn from the findings in this qualitative study. The findings suggest that the experiences of the instructors can give the reader several implications for practice, such as how important technology skills and technology support will be in order to create and maintain materials for online instruction. Other implications included the importance of administrative support and the ability of online education to solve time and distance barriers for students.