Online Learning Update

By James Paterson, Campus Technology
Colleges must support online offerings with many of the same initiatives they offer to on-campus students, though some programs may need to be tailored to the online learner’s unique needs, according to three officials at the Arizona State University who are helping to shepherd the online university, which is a priority with the university. Writing in The evolllution, the three suggest that Arizona State actively recruits online learners with approaches that best suit them, including communications through various media, unobtrusive automated contact technology that can be easily customized, and a website that fully informs the students and allows for a growing number of “stealth applicants” who interact with the admissions office very little or not at all. University officials also make close connections to the business community for these students. The authors suggest that colleges can support them with initiatives such as student services and online communities, noting that research shows the top reasons online learners drop out they feel the university doesn’t care about them.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/scaling-programs-that-support-unique-needs-of-online-students/525435/