Online Learning and Student Success

The Key to Student Success Online1


We…know…The formula for improved student success in online programs

Do you want to know what it is?

Why do you want to know what it is?

A vast majority of students do not persist in online programs – yet online programs are the way of the future…

After months of research, we have the formula for improved student success in online programs!


Student Success Online =

Effective Faculty Members

Effective Faculty Members =

Student Success Online


Burning 3500 calories = Losing One Pound

So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise, or a combination of both,

you will burn enough stored body fat to lose one pound of weight.


Wearing a Seatbelt = Less Injury from Accidents

So if you drive with your seatbelt on, you are less likely to be injured in the event of an accident.


Effective Faculty Members = Student Success Online

So if you make sure your faculty members are effective,

you are going to increase your student success rate online.


Basic Formulas… --Why don’t we follow them?

•They are misleading – they sound simple, but are actually complex

•We’ve known them forever - we take them for granted

•We need to be reminded… or inspired

•Need some strategies to support the formula:

oSome New

o Some you know, but expand on

You already know this well…Getting you to think about it again

Introductions• Carrie Spagnola–Doyle, MBA

• Catrina Poe, DBA• Stacey Barrett, MAEd

co-authors of

Student Success Online = Effective Faculty Members

Ways to make your faculty members more effective…

•Certifying Faculty in Online Teachingo We cannot expect that students will simply know how to learn online or that faculty

will know how to teach in this environment. Training for both is essential” (Palloff & Pratt, 2001, p. 3).

•Creating Student Support Materialso The online class must present a sense of class, school, and university (Lieblein, p.

163).

•Leveraging Assessment○ How do you know your students know?

•Evaluating Faculty○ When evaluating the effectiveness of an online course, two distinct

components are under review: the content (curriculum) provided within the online course and the instructor's facilitation of the learning experience (Mandernach, 2005).

○Closing Discussion


Certifying your faculty = effective faculty members

Instructor Certification:

Many successful schools put a HUGE emphasis on the training of online faculty.

“Schools that are continually stressing that the Instructor is the fulcrum on which the success of the course leans, are the schools that will win the war” --Dave Daniels <President of Pearson Learning Solutions>

Many are considering certifications to ensure common competencies– Faculty meet competencies for online teaching– Both large and small


Content to certify your faculty

Certification courses impart the right knowledge and skills, empowering instructors to become effective online educators.

Instructors can master the pedagogical, instructional, and

technological principles relevant to online learning.

Introduction to Online Learning

Instructor Technology Preparation

Instructional Design for

Online Learning

Promoting Student

Success in the Online

Environment

Assessing Knowledge and Skills in the Online

Environment

Beyond the Online

ClassroomPracticum Virtual

Internship


Blue ribbon panelWhy a panel?

• Cross pollination of ideas• Credibility

A review of potential profiles of a blue ribbon panel

1- Online instructor, mentor, and expert in online communities and student diversity2- Postsecondary online professor, mentor, and corporate trainer3- Award-winning online educator and certified peer reviewer for QualityMatters.org4- Postsecondary online learning instructor and researcher5- Director of Educational Technology for XXX6- K-20 online professor7- iNACOL Research Committee


Borrow Online teaching standards examples

iNACOL:• National standards of quality for online courses• International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)

51 Competencies for online instructors:• benchmarks for excellence in online instruction

– Theodore C. Smith, Axia College, Western International University

(published in the Journal of Educators Online, Vol. 2.2)

SREB’s standards for quality online teaching:• Guidelines for professional development of online teachers• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)


Creating student materials to support effective faculty

Prepare your students for success!

What we are seeing:•Student Success Classes

more common than ever beforeresearch has proven leads to: student retention, higher GPAs,

better technology integration, more involvement

•Orientation classesset expectations, let the students test drive going to school

•Online learning moduleshelp students to get acclimated

•Learning across the curriculumStudent success objectives intertwined throughout first year

•If employing a faculty member, use a seasoned one with a good track record


Power Up topics….

•Motivation•Time Management•Self-knowledge, including learning styles•The online classroom and community•Working in the online classroom•Communicating online•Critical thinking and online research•Computer concerns•Creating a personalized study environment•Maintaining online success

These are topics we felt were important in a student success or orientation course.


Leveraging assessment to support effective faculty

•Assessments are enormously important in education – for the student, the instructor, and the school

•Accrediting bodies looking closely at a school's assessment materials

•“Ensuring that assessments are practical, interesting, and truly aligned with the learning objectives helps students be successful. Successful students persist in their education.” (Pearson Learning Solutions Director of Assessment and Evaluation, Power Up Author)


And speaking of assessment…

What is the best option for assessment strategy when trying to ensure effective faculty members?

Option A: Have full-time faculty write the materials in-house.

Option B: Hire members of the institution’s adjunct faculty to do it.

Option C: Have an outside Assessment Specialist/Instructional Designer review the course materials, and create original assessments.


And the answer is…

Option A is often not the best choice because it is not the best use of full-time faculty; bottom line… too time-consuming.

Option B is often not the best choice because adjunct faculty are mostly subject matter experts without the appropriate training to create instructionally sound assessments.

Option C is a winner because you let the instructors focus on what they do best. You create a check and balance system. Instructors have a valid formative and summative assessment strategy set up for them by someone with the expertise and time to write quality assessments.


Leveraging assessment: The 2 largest take-aways

1. Write the assessments at a higher cognitive level that will force students to really think about the content of the course.

2. Make sure the assessments are written in the format easiest for students and faculty to work with and leverage technology.


Worth mentioning…..Grading rubrics support effective faculty members

What are rubrics? Rubrics are grading criteria for authentic assessments (no autograding!). They provide both a tool and a method for communicating exactly what is expected of a student.

Rubrics save students and faculty timeWhen a teacher provides a rubric at the time an assignment is given, students immediately know what is expected of them. They spend more of their time and energy on the tasks at hand and less on trying to figure out what the teacher wants.

Rubrics make grading more clear, consistent, and equitable (less grade discrepancy).

Rubrics raise the quality of work students produce.


Evaluating faculty = effective faculty members

If we always do what we have always done we will always be what we have always been…

Feedback leads to improvement.

Often administrators are used to making visits to traditional classrooms, but are unsure of how this can be done online.

You can implement online evaluations!

How do you do that? Why do you do that?


Implementing Evaluation

Set expectations – what is it you want the faculty member to accomplish?○ required participation○ feedback by a certain date○ level/type of feedback○ content of messages○ Level of participation

*Important: not whether the students liked the faculty member, but was there an opportunity for learning?

Next, create a template to assess – much like one we may use for our jobs.

Create a body of evaluators – you, stellar faculty members, full time employees

Provide guidance and training to evaluators

Implement the evaluation program

Make it stick… regular evaluations (yearly, quarterly)


Why Evaluate?

•Provides an opportunity to coach for better outcomes

•Signals commitment and caring on behalf of the institution – about both student and faculty success

•Satisfies accreditation requirements

•Ultimately is a tool for creating better learning environments


In Conclusion….The Four Strategies We Discussed Today To Ensure Effective Faculty…were

•Education, preparation, and faculty training and certification

•Students prepared for the realities of online learning

•Leveraging assessment

•Periodic evaluation to provide feedback for improvement


Pre-Conference Survey results…

How to keep students engaged onlineHow do you measure success?latest trends and shifts retention strategies I am developing a course based on Power Up! So I am particularly interested in thisStrategies to mitigate the effects of gainful employment regulationresults from in use in the admissions process What are other schools doing for programs?


New ideas in online education

What is the next wave of online education?first we had snail mail; then we had television and radio; then we had satellite; then we had fax machines; then we had the internet….what is next?

•Hybrid online – asynchronized and synchronized learning?•Full time faculty•More


Brain Trust – YOUR IDEAS!!!


References

Allen, I., & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008. Sloan Consortium

Angelino, L.M. & D. Natvig (2009) A Conceptual Model for Engagement of the Online Learner. The Journal of Educators Online 6 (1)

Lieblein, p. 163

McVay, M (2000) Developing a Web-based Distance Student Orientation to Enhance Student Success in an Online Bachelor's Degree Completion Program. Dissertation Presented to the Ed.D. Program in Instructional Technology and Distance Education: Nova Southeastern University

Mandernach,J; Donnelli,E.; Dailey, A.; Schulte, M.(2005, Fall). A Faculty Evaluation Model for Online Instructors: Mentoring and Evaluation in

the Online Classroom. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Volume VIII.

McVay Lynch, M (2001) Effective Student Preparation for Online Learning. The Technology Source Archives at the University of North Carolina.

Palloff & Pratt, 2001,

Tallent-Runnels, M., Thomas, J., Lan, W., Cooper, S., Ahern, T., et al. (2006). Teaching courses online: A review of research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 93-135.

Tobin, T. (2004). Best Practices for Administrative Evaluation of Online Faculty. DLA 2004 proceedings, Jekyll Island, Georgia, May 23-26, 2004.

Wojciechowski, A. & Palmer L. B (2005) Individual Student Characteristics: Can Any Be Predictors of Success In Online Classes? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, VIII( II)

Documents

Online Learning and Student Success