Student success is a large part of your course. Your teaching can make all the difference to an online student.
(Online) Teaching Your Students
Flower Darby, author of Small Teaching Online, writes in her online teaching guide:
“Online learning requires high-level executive-function skills that some students may not possess. The lack of social and logistical support that is an inherent part of in-person education — where students interact with the instructor and their peers on a regular basis inside a physical classroom — means that online students must be able to manage their time well, motivate themselves, direct and regulate their own learning, and seek appropriate help when needed. But often they simply can’t do all of that on their own, and online courses are their only option to a degree. Good online teaching requires you to make an extra effort to help those students persist, learn deeply, and experience transformation as a result of your online classes.”
Extra Effort: Impact Retention
The Office of Distance Education and Online Learning at Ohio State has suggestions on how faculty can help students before they fall behind:
“At the faculty level the potential impact on retention is quite high. Faculty being the primary resources and support for students, particularly at a distance, puts them in a position of making perhaps the biggest impact on student persistence and success. Faculty can apply the following best practices to help maintain high retention in their courses and program as a whole.” The following tips are inspired by Ohio State’s suggestions.
Tips to Improve Student Success in YOUR Class
- Give a eCourseware syllabus quiz or survey in the first week to verify students understand the course requirements.
- Use release conditions that allows new material to display after the student passes the quiz
- Use the eCourseware calendar to note when items are due. Consider adding entries for due date reminders: “Paper 1 is due in 3 days.”
- Use eCourseware News, discussion boards, video note, or email regularly to keep in touch with your class and establish instructor presence.
- Consider using intelligent agents to automate course communication
- Make a plan for addressing students who are at risk of withdrawing or failing your course, and then USE that plan.
- Use the Class Progress tool in eCourseware to notice if students are missing assignments or quizzes and proactively direct students on what to do if they start falling behind. This is so simple to do; don’t wait for the student to ask you.
Extra Effort: Stay Flexible
One of the biggest advantages of an online course is flexibility. A good online course should allow students to work at least a little bit ahead to finish early or give them a chance to catch up after falling a little behind.
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