Retention is as Patricia stated everyone's business. Faculty members are the front line with students and therefore it is important for all faculty members, whether full time or adjunct, to place focus on this topic. There are many strategies to try but the one that from my experience has the best results is simply interaction. In an online course, this means sending students an instant message when the instructor is online so that students feel free to respond with questions. It is also valuable to email students with regular updates from the class. This again provides students the opening to… >>>

Teaching adults can certainly be challenging and fun as Renee stated. The benefit of teaching adults, from my perspective is that they generally know what they hope to obtain or have some specific goal in mind. From years of teaching in a traditional classroom to then moving a few years ago to online, I have found that the maturity level is higher online (generally) and the online students tend to be more focused overall. There are always exceptions; however, I have found that my students are overall more ready to move forward with their career and have a better plan… >>>