EduDemic: The Skills Both Online Students And Teachers Must Have

http://edudemic.com/2013/03/the-skills-both-online-students-and-teachers-must-have/

Decades after the Sloan Consortium funded the first large-scale online learning programs in the U.S., online learning has finally hit its stride. According to the 2012 Survey of Online Learning conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group, the number of students taking at least one online course has now surpassed 6.7 million, an increase of more than 570,000 students over the previous year. Moreover, thirty-two percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.
Yet despite this bullish growth, research shows that course completion and program retention rates are “generally lower” in online courses than in face-to-face courses.
Non-traditional students – students 25 and older who return to school for any reason, including 2- or 4-year degrees, professional certification, workforce training or just continuing education – are most attracted to online learning because of the flexibility and “anytime, anywhere” style of instruction. But these students often have a number of factors that work against their success, including some or all of the following:

• Varying degrees of mismatch between the difficulty of online courses and students’ academic preparation
• Family and peer influences
• The high degree of self-directedness required for most online programs
• The interaction of course design and cultural issues
• The need to adapt to computer-mediated communication
• Economic factors
• Variability in the level of employer support (for employee training), and
• Time management and technology issues (Rovai and Downey, 2010).

Characteristics of Successful Online Students

Students best suited for online learning have special skill sets and certain characteristics that set them up for success. These include:
1. Being highly motivated to learn. Unlike in a brick and mortar classroom, in an online environment no one stands over the student to remind him to do his homework, or is in front of him to ensure he is mastering the curriculum. In on ground classrooms, learning can be passive, while in online programs, learning is active and the learner must be engaged at all times.
2. Having strong time management skills. The normal structure of getting to class on time is gone, requiring each student to set his or her own schedules to get the work done.
3. Being highly communicative. Shrinking violets need not apply! If you aren’t communicating online with your instructor or peers, you become invisible. Communication and collaboration are critical to the student’s success.
4. Having self-discipline. A “good” online instructor will reach out to students if a student does not “show up” online. However, this outreach is not mandatory, often putting the burden of responsibility on the student.
5. Demonstrating strong critical thinking skills. While there is support available, the most successful online students have the ability to solve problems and overcome challenges.
6. Having basic technology skills. While these skills may be ubiquitous for younger students, adults returning to school often need to learn new technology skills that may not be intuitive to them. Schools need to be empathetic toward these learners and ensure the appropriate constructs are in place to help these students learn basic instructional skills prior to moving deeply into their online course of studies.

Easy-to-Implement Student Success Strategies

For those new to the online learning environment, there are a number of simple strategies students can implement to increase their course achievement. (Source: Dr. Dawn Kaiser, Faculty Manager, American Intercontinental University)
1. Create a community and communicate with the instructor in a different way. When the “instructor” doesn’t see you, it becomes even more important to find a way for them to remember you.
2. Collaborate with your peers. Find a way to make your own study group – be it over Skype, within an LMS, or in person. This engagement helps students feel more connected with the class.
3. Be diligent about deadlines and timelines. It’s easy to let things fall to the last minute when there is no one reminding you on a regular basis. Set your own personal deadlines in a calendar, just like you would an appointment.
4. Look for and leverage tools that can help you stay structured and focused (i.e. Evernote, Springpad or Dropbox)
5. Guard against self-destructive behaviors. Procrastination in an online course is your worst enemy.
6. Set attainable goals and track them. This will help you stay motivated as you check off each task you accomplish.
7. Set up a support system. Share your educational goals with those in your circle of close friends and family and how you will accomplish them. Let others know how important this is to you and lean on them when you feel discouraged or ready to give up. Celebrate with them when you reach your goals!
8. Ask questions! This is your education and you will get out of it what you put in.

Faculty Ownership of Students’ Online Achievement

There are many things institutions and/or faculty can do to encourage, inspire and retain students in online educational programs – some which are similar to the steps students must take themselves.
1. Be highly communicative with students – focus on the student, not the content.
2. Move from using the Socratic approach (one to many) to being more of a coach. Online teaching is focused on helping students problem solve more than delivering information.
3. Be very flexible. Online students work outside of normal 9-5 school hours and may need your help in the evenings or on weekends.
4. Provide continuous feedback. If instructors wait three days or more before telling a student if she is on the right track, she will feel disconnected and possibly give up. Constant feedback is a critical success factor for online students.
5. Develop supportive forums and optimize introductions to create a friendly online environment that has a sense of community. This helps students feel supported and encouraged.

Models and Tools to Optimize the Online Learning Experience

Online teaching methods have evolved from fully instructed courses, to facilitated, to the now more popular self-paced and now self-instructed, such as Propero and in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – opening access to an entirely new audience of students. There is no single model for online learning success. The standards we set today should be tiny benchmarks that we set out to surpass every year. Technology keeps changing, and we are still learning how students learn online and what methods work best.
The more schools experiment with online learning, the closer we will get to taking online learning to scale and moving toward higher student completion and success rates in online programs. With the vast array of synchronous and asynchronous technologies available, students are able to collaborate online just as well as in face-to-face classes, when the right environment and tools are in place.
Wherever one looks, evidence of mobile devices in the higher education landscape is omnipresent: cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, handhelds, tablets, and laptops abound. These devices can increase access and collaboration outside the classroom, making them optimal, but not a prerequisite for online learning success. Students should never be held back due to not having the resources to purchase certain devices. Institutions and instructors must work together to set their students up for success, with a minimum requirement of Internet connectivity and at least one device for every student.

The Benefits and Continued Challenges of Online Learning

Thanks to the growth of online course offerings by well-established schools, and a growing acceptance on the part of hiring managers to be more open to online degrees, online degrees are gaining credibility. Employers know that if a student succeeds in an online program, then they must have the time management skills and self-discipline to succeed in the labor market.
Students that choose the online learning path realize many benefits. In addition to learning a great deal about self-responsibility, and learning on their own time, online students get the opportunity to balance having a family or career while at the same time, pursuing a degree. The skills and traits acquired during an online course (time management, critical thinking skills, self-discipline and collaboration) have shown to better prepare students for careers.
Over the past decade, online learning has evolved dramatically. What started out as individuals making content ‘available’ via PowerPoint presentations online (in the ‘90’s) graduated to ‘Engagement’ through Flash (the early 2000’s), then moved on to Instructional Sound objectives-based content (the mid 2000’s), to Learner Centered Design (the late 2000’s) has finally evolved into a much more solid experience for students, now focused on Evidence-Based design (the early 2010’s). Engagement is no longer the only goal. Providing rigorous and relevant learning experiences that allow students to attain their educational goals while at the same time increasing access and affordability are the key objectives all online programs need to strive for.

 

About the Author
Todd A. Hitchcock is Senior Vice President of Online Solutions for Pearson Learning Solutions where he leads Product Management, Product Development and Business Development for Pearson’s Higher Education online products and services.