Online delivery is not appropriate for all students. Institutions frequently assume that online education will reduce their cost or leverage their resources by reaching students who can't or won't enroll in a traditional program. While this may be true, it is a mistake to assume all these types of students will succeed in an online course.
There are various assessments which could easily screen a student's aptitude for online learning. eLearning requires personal discipline and the ability to structure one's time independently. These characteristics are not a given just because someone is enrolled in an online course.
I come from the perspective that good student outcomes are the best recruiting tool. And to have great outcomes students need to be matched to the most appropriate delivery system.
I agree students that are not familiar and are familiar with using online forums, chat and turning in assignments should go through an online orientation process. This will help the student understand and make use of all the available tools online courses can offer.
Having launched a hybrid program last year, I can attest to the fact students who want an on-campus experience often have difficulty grasping the online delivery format. While it does provide them with flexibility, it often challenges their self motivation and time management abilities. These need to be addressed to an even greater degree on-line than on-campus.
The student population of the online class, sets the tone of the discussion board/forum. As you may notice, you will have a different cohort of students every time the quarter, semester or module restarts. Therefore, the tone of the discussion(s) may have a different vibe or feel to them.
Our school has not started online yet. I believe they are looking into it. We are a business college and many of our students have been out of school for a while. Others are fresh out of high school. We prepare them so they can get a good job when they finish school in nine months.
We have several courses that could be online.
How would I evaluate which student in our demographics would be an excellent online student?
Student population is very important. While devloping an online program, we must consider the socio-economic status which influences whether or not they can afford a laptop or high-speed internet. If students aren't able to have those items at home, then we have to learn what basic computer skills they lack and develop and effective way to train them prior.
It can be challenging to identify students who would do well online. There are several self-assessment quizzes online that some schools require students to take; e.g. Will you be a successful online student?, How will I know if I'm ready to take courses online?
The students should be computer literate and have access to a computer outside of class--whether it be at home or a school-sponsored lab.
Explaining to older students that keyboarding is very similar to typing can sometimes reduce their anxiety. Cohort groups of peers working together can also provide wonderful support.
Thanks Linda for your reply. Can you link me to the self-assessment quizzes that indicate qualities needed for a successful online student?
The demographics of the student body population is very important to consider when a college decides to offer an online program. Some students don't have the luxury of owning their own laptops or having access to a computer.
Online orientations are extremely critical. When I first started teaching online, I had students say they were not sure where to attach their assignments or how to post their forum responses. Unfortunately, at that time the institution did not have an orientation for students. Therefore, I created an orientation for my students to acclimate them to online learning for our college. That is, I showed them how to respond to forum questions, how to respond to classmate's responses, how to attach assignments and view assignment feedback. I even went over all of the course policies. This proactive approach eliminated the number of emails from students on how to complete certain tasks, as well as got students started off on the right foot.
I have noticed that many online institutions of higher learning do not have stringent entrance requirements. This results in the schools having a small percentage of students that really do not have the intellectual wherewithal to succeed in such an independent learning environment. I used to teach a course that required students to engage in writing assignments. I too was shocked by the number of students that could not form a complete sentence and English was their first language. I know schools desire to secure as many enrollments as possible but more stringent entrance requirements are needed. This will likey also decrease attrition in some way because if it is obvious from the onset that the student will not/cannot succeed in the program, they are not enrolled. It seems to make no sense to enroll students who will eventually become drops because they cannot handle the rigors of the curriculum.
I believe it does. In my environment, the student population consists of students ranging from 18 to upper 50's. They work full-time jobs, have family and other personal obligations and schedule conflicts that preclude them from attending the traditional brick & mortar institution. I believe this is why we have seen a rise in institutions offering online learning programs in an effort to meet the needs of this student population.
Guidance and orientation must be preliminar to take any online course or program. Staff and faculty must pay attention to each student to follow up their educational process.Some students need more attention than others and school faculty need to recognize that.
Some students do need more attention than others. This is where faculty training is critical. There are many instructors who have not taught online before. This coupled with having to remediate a course for less performing/skilled students creates a stressor for both the seasoned/unseasoned online faculty. They need training in order to know how to better facilitate the courses for these students. There also needs to be better entrance assessments or evaluations to determine the needs of the students,their congnitve ability and potential for dropping so that strategies can be put in place to best meet the students needs and keep them from becoming a retention casualty.
Absolutely! When looking at your student population you have to see to whom you are marketing the program. If you are marketing to recent grads who are use to technology to professionals that have busy schedules, families,etc. online classes are fantastic ways to increase enrollment and to help your students succeed. If you are marketing to people or areas where there is limited online services or no computer access than it would take a lot of additional work on the staff of the school to help meet the needs of those students so that they too would be successful. Although we are always out to make a profit, where education is concerned it should be about the student's success.
My first thought is age. As I was reading through the first lesson I kept thinking about the use of online programs in elementary, middle, and high schools and that teachers may be required to give more assisstance. I am interested in providing online information to educators and wonder if the level of assisstance will be less.
I think that the characteristics of my student population might influence the reasons against online education. First, students enrolled in our school are older (median 44y/o)and Hispanics. Consequently, they prefer traditional methods of learning (on-campus) more than others. For this reason, before start offering online classes, we will have to profile and survey prospective online students to identify their unique characteristics and learning preferences.
More than influence for or against, the student population should influence how and when online delivery will be implemented. With a more individual/self-starter approach to the way business is done out of school, I would say that very soon many schools might require a certain level of independence that can be reached through online education.
This has been a concern at our institution. Many of our students are low income students that at best have minimum wage jobs. Most do not have a computer, and if they do, they lack high-speed internet access. Additionally, many of our students are the first in their family to attend a post-secondary institution, so they lack the study skills and discipline necessary to be successful in online delivery. We have attempted to address that by providing longer access hours for our computer labs, providing laptops for our AAS and BS students, and assisting with payment of a portion of their internet access bill.
I also believe that this is true- our population averages in the mid 30's and this is a second career choice for many. They come with full and part time jobs trying to find a new future. They are frequently quite adept at computer use and enjoy the flexibility of on line courses.
