This article appeared in the November 2007 edition of University Business Magazine. Please read the excerpt about Wimba below. You can find the original article in its entirety here:
http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=933
Distant, Not Absent
Keeping online learners engaged can help them reach the finish line.
By Ann McClure
November 2007
PICTURE THE DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENT, ALONE IN A room, bathed by the glow of a computer screen. During the fall 2006 term, nearly 3.5 million students took at least one online course, according to the 2007 Sloan Consortium report “Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning.” Although students did so because they wanted an education, that desire alone might not carry them to completion. As online courses grow in popularity, providers are starting to take steps to ensure student persistence. “In some ways, the idea [that] programs are growing is not surprising, even if good practices aren’t being followed,” says Ken Udas, executive director of the Penn State World Campus and Online Programs. “If the sector is matured you will have people taking programs and maybe not being satisfied.” The student’s emotional investment, faculty engagement, and technology are all contributing factors to completion.
Emotions in Motion
“As administrators we can pull all the levers that influence course completion,” says Martha Cleveland-Innes, associate professor at the Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University (Canada). External pressures such as family and work are the same for online and on-campus students. But on-campus students can have a strong connection to the institution because it is where they live and where their friends are, which can help with persistence. Online students are usually only connected by a fiber optic line, so strengthening that connection can sometimes increase student satisfaction. Cleveland-Innes points out that one way to foster engagement is by minimizing issues students might have with technology, the admissions process, and access to materials, while increasing contact among and between students and faculty. “We have preliminary data that suggests that an enhanced sense of community will enhance completion,” she says.
George Saltsman, the director of Educational Technology for the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning at Abilene Christian University (Texas), points to research showing that when students form learning communities, they hold each other accountable for the success of the entire class. “If you can foster a connection, students will be more persistent over all,” says Don Smith, manager of distance learning programs and support at Sinclair Community College (Ohio), who also promotes discussion forums and team activities. “It helps them feel they are part of a class and not flying solo.”
The University of Phoenix uses learning teams as a first line of support for students, explains Marla LaRue, dean of education. Learning groups are a cohort of students progressing through a program of study together. Learning teams are composed of three to six members of the learning group who meet weekly to study and work on group projects together. When a class starts, students are instructed on how to work in a team and then are free to form them on their own. The learning teams allow students to form connections and draw on each other’s strengths. Close friendships often develop. “It’s funny, at the beginning of the program students will say they aren’t crazy about the learning team, but by the end the satisfaction is 98 percent,” she adds.
Although many students are attracted to online learning because of the flexibility of the asynchronous format, Great Basin College has found success through adding a synchronous component to some classes using Wimba’s Live Classroom. During a “LiveNet” class, the instructor and students meet online at a set time and communicate via headsets. Since the community college serves practically the entire state of Nevada, the technology enables students who don’t live near a campus or service center to attend.
Lisa Frazier, curriculum development specialist, says online retention is around 79 percent and retention in LiveNet classes is 84 percent. Students have started taking advantage of the fact that LiveNet classes are open 24/7 by setting up study groups, Frazier adds. Students aren’t just seeking a connection to their classmates; some are also looking to connect to the institution. “I’ve met with students who just want to get educated and get out,” says Heather Chakiris, associate dean for advising and retention for Penn State’s World Campus. “But more and more I see students who want to be engaged.”