Personalized communication with online students can be achieved by implementing several proven strategies. These strategies include congratulations and welcome calls, using names in all correspondence, virtual meet-ups, multimedia communications, orientation, synchronous chat, and ongoing reminders.

Communicating with students through technology is quite different from face-to-face interactions. Education professionals need to be aware of these differences if they wish to develop strong working alliances with students they may never meet face-to-face.

Research indicates that online instruction is neither inferior nor superior to face-to-face instruction because there is nothing inherent in technology that significantly influences academic performance. As an acting conservatory, it would be interesting to know if this holds true for such a hands on training program.  

This is incredilbe information!  Student dropout is caused by two primary causes: (1) unsuccessful social integration and (2) incompatibility with institutional values and norms. This theory likens academic institutions to microcosms of society. When students fail to develop the personal affiliations necessary to feel a sense of community-belonging, they are more likely to voluntarily depart.

When students plan for and set life goals such as educational, career, and financial goals, you can help students connect your course content to those goals. This can help students see how being successful in your course affects their life goals which may, in turn, affect their family and other goals. As students connect their goals to course content, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in the learning process to achieve set goals.

This is a hot tip for sure: Being proactive in finding out what these deficiencies are, and setting aside time to deal with them at the beginning of your course, will help eliminate much frustration at a later time.

The sooner you establish the importance of participation and engagement in the online course, the less isolated students may feel as they progress through the course.

Instructors should analyze their teaching style, strengths, and weaknesses. It is important to acknowledge them, utilize them, and, if necessary, improve upon them to become a better teacher in the online environment.

Love love loce this... Regardless of subject area or discipline, helping students think, process, and apply well is helping them succeed ACADEMICALLY. Helping students interact, collaborate, and communicate clearly, is helping them succeed SOCIALLY. Helping students manage their time, manage their team/group work with others, and meet deadlines and goals, is helping them PROFESSIONALLY. The entire scope should be the goal of all coursework, projects, demonstrations, and activities.

Authentic learning refers to “real-life” or “real-world” activities, problems, or projects within which students can interact with others and formulate their own opinions through engagement. So, rather than learning within a preset or unreal context, students have a chance to learn in order to use and apply.