EarlyTerm Success Strategies in Online Courses

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Early-Term Success Strategies in Online Courses

• Adapted from Illinois Community Colleges Online
  IOC Conference 2006
• Molly Baker
• Patrice Hess
• Emily Vescogni
• Chris Shelley

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Key Ideas

• Research Early student involvement increases
  chances of engagement and successful
  performance/completion (i.e., retention)
• Whats happening between you and your students
  prior to the semester and during the first 2-3
  weeks of class that encourages early involvement?
• How can you use feedback at regular intervals to
  monitor student engagement?

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One Size Doesnt Fit All
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Online Lng Experience
Age/Lng Preferences
Preferred Lng Modalities
Deadlineswork ahead
Holistic
Deadlinestime to get started
Who are they?
Task-oriented
Dependent, reactive, OL will be easy
Independent, self-directed, motivated
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One Size Does Not Fit All

• Varied expectations and early online learning
  behavior suggest varied early feedback
  approaches. For example
• Age and learning style preferences (print, site
  navigation)
• Online learning experience
• Preferred learning modalities affect perceptions
  of the course as interesting or appealing
  (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)
• Independent, self-directed, motivated OR
  dependent, OL will be easy, and reactive
• Holistic (give me the big picture and optional
  ways to accomplish it) OR task-oriented (tell me
  specifically what to do this week)
• Task deadlines help you plan ahead to avoid
  stress OR are viewed as flexible guidelines that
  indicate it might be time to start thinking about
  something

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Key Strategies

• Pre-term Strategies
• First Week Getting Started Strategies
• Tech and Academic Support
• Keeping Connected
• Early warning systems
• Collecting and monitoring student feedback
• 7 Principles of Undergraduate Education

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Pre-term Strategies

• Letter, postcard or email letter
• Website URL
• Instructions on how to login
• Something easy to do by the first day of class in
  the course site
• Where to look for first week activities
  deadlines
• Tech help resources
• Simplified version of http//facweb.bhc.edu/tlc/e
  vents/ondemand/OtherTools.html
• Help Desk hours of operation (8-8 M-Th 8-4 SS)
• Online Learning Center Getting Ready and Help
  areas http//www.bhc.edu/index.asp?NID355

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First Week Strategies

• Execute a plan for how to handle students who
  have not logged in by first day of class.
• Use Online Learning Center as basis for
  orientation http//www.bhc.edu/index.asp?nid16
• Include course site tour in orientation,
  including area where Help resources, phone
  numbers, hours of operation, self-help
  strategies, etc. are located.
• Include links to BHC student services invite rep
  to join in online discussion?

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Link Students to Services
Tech Support
Bookstore
Student Clubs
Tutoring
Writing Center
Registration
Bookstore
Library
ScholarshipInfo
Counseling
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First Week Strategies

• Include expectations for how frequently to check
  the course Website for updates to info,
  assignments, and discussion (daily? 2-3 times a
  week? On weekends?)
• Early involvement tasks to get them familiar with
  the CMS tools
• Post intro of self to discussion forum
• Post questions about the course to the Course
  Name QA forum
• Take Getting Started quiz after completing
  orientation activities
• Submit Contingency Plan as a Word file following
  assignment submission process they use throughout
  the course

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Prerequisites

• State or restate the expected prerequisites for
  the course.
• Has the student completed a readiness assessment?
• Illinois Online Network Self Evaluation for
  Potential Online Students http//www.ion.uillino
  is.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/selfEval.asp
• Does the student have the proper
• Course prerequisites?
• Skill prerequisites?
• Hardware?
• Software?
• How do you know?

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(No Transcript)
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Student Contingency Plans
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If the CMS server went down..
Would you move assignment dates?How would
students know?
Do you have contact information for all your
students?
Have you downloaded student gradesrecently?
How could students complete discussion
assignments?
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I sent it. You didnt receive it?

• Remind students to
• Save email communications
• Save assignments for whole semester
• And
• Acknowledge all student email submissions
• Indicate whether you expect a phone call if the
  student cant meet a deadline due to technology

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With a plan in place

• You will have less stress.
• There will be less lost time.
• You will avoid being flooded with emails from
  frantic students.
• The student experience will be positive.

Everybody wins
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Progress and Grades

• Provide students with a mechanism for figuring or
  accessing grades anytime.
• Provide students with grade data or report total
  points or averages more frequently than midterm
  and final.
• Provide students with timely feedback on all
  assignments.
• Communicate with students who are not making
  academic progress at benchmark times of the
  course, such as quarterly.

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Keep Connected

• Do not allow more than 3 days to pass without
  your interaction with the site new announcement,
  updated assignments, new discussion postings,
  posted grades
• Early warning systems
• Early and regular feedback from students

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Early Warning Systems

• Develop an early warning system of your own.
  Consider
• Will you pursue students who never login?
• Will you pursue students who login and never
  participate?
• Will you pursue students who login and
  participate but then decrease activity?
• Will you pursue students who login and
  participate but just stop participating?
• What else constitutes a warning?

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Varied Feedback Approaches

• Weve shared many activities that encourage early
  involvement through orientation, easy early
  tasks, and faculty pursuit!
• What about varied faculty feedback to early
  student efforts?
• Use communication tools that will be employed
  throughout the course, to give them practice in
  finding you
• Invite their responses to your feedback
• Spark motivation by showing interest in them,
  praising effort, and giving them opportunities to
  make choices

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Early Feedback Like What?
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Example Whos Who

• Name (preferred name to be called)
• Location (city, state, country)
• Current job, if any, and a little about what you
  do
• Major field of study and where you think this
  course might fit into your learning goals
• Experience taking online courses or other forms
  of distance education. If yes, tips for those new
  to this format?

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Example Getting Started Quiz

• Prior knowledge
• HS courses prereq courses work training
• Relevant experience
• Relevant job experience
• Volunteer/personal experience/exposure
• Interests
• Free time family time hobbies (relevant to
  course or not)
• Course Expectations
• What do you want to learn? Where does this class
  fit into your degree plan? What 1-2 topics in the
  TOC appear most appealing to you right now?

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Example Minute Paper (CATS)

• See Angelo and Crosss Classroom Assessment
  Techniques for additional examples and ideas
• What was the most important thing you learned
  this week?
• What was the muddiest point(s)?
• What one thing would help you clear up this
  muddiest point(s)?

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Example Module Eval

• Overall, how would you rate this module?
• Excellent, Pretty Good, Could be better, Not so
  hot
• How would you rate XXX in this module as to its
  value in contributing to your learning?
• Very helpful, Interesting but not helpful, Not
  interesting or helpful
• What did you like most about the module?
• What suggestions do you have for improving this
  module?

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Example Course Feedback

• How much are you enjoying the class? Why?
• Not at all Not so much Quite a bit Very much
• How valuable is the material being covered to
  you? Why?
• Not valuable at all Not so valuable Quite
  valuable Very valuable
• How difficult has the course been for you so far?
  Why?
• Not very difficult Somewhat difficult Quite
  difficult Very difficult
• How much effort have you invested so far?
• Very little Not so much Quite a bit Maximum
• What one thing would help you most to enjoy this
  course?
• What one thing would maximize your learning
  during the rest of the course?
• Other Comments?

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Retention

• What promotes student success?
• IMPLEMENTING THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES Technology as
  Lever http//www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
  by Arthur W. Chickering and Stephen C. Ehrmann
• Good Practice Encourages Contacts Between
  Students and Faculty
• Good Practice Develops Reciprocity and
  Cooperation Among Students
• Good Practice Uses Active Learning Techniques
• Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback
• Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task
• Good Practice Communicates High Expectations
• Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways
  of Learning

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Post-session Survey

• Were you able to discover or invent a new idea
  for an early term success strategy?
• A. Yes
• B. No
• Which idea did you find most intriguing that you
  might actually try yourself?

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Early-Term Success Strategies in Online Courses

• Thank you for your participation!