Online learners can pose particular challenges. Be ready to rise to the occasion & check out these links for support. Below these links cover the profile of a typical online learner, some links to resources on dealing with challenging students, links to online orientation samples as well as an outline to consider when designing [or evaluating an online orientation] as well as a link to annotated resources from my MHE622 Foundations of Online Learning course.
Online Orientations:
Here faculty will find articles, papers and other content revolving around on boarding students to the online learning experience.
- Brown University’s Annotate List of Resources for Designing Online Assignments & Activities brings lots of good ideas for assignments and activities.
- Examining the Student Experience Using Service Blueprinting: Students often face problems accomplishing their goals because colleges and universities have poor processes. Service blueprinting, a type of process map, focuses on the student (or customer) experience and illuminates things an organization can do to identify and fix problem processes.
- MHE632 Week 2 Student Support Discussion: In addition to preparing students through a quality orientation, ongoing support services are important to help students be successful in an online course.
- MHE632 Week 2 Online Student Orientation Discussion: Orientations are valuable for all students when they begin a new program. Orientations can also help online learners to learn how to adapt to a new learning environment.
- MHE632-Week 1 – Profile of the Typical Online Learner Discussion: What makes an online learner successful? What challenges are unique to this population of learners? How can these challenges cause issues in the online classroom? How might you address these challenges?
Online Orientations: samples from websites
- Arizona State University: the use of videos makes this a very visual roadmap
- Capella Online Learning: they have been around for a very long time. This is a mixture of visuals, tours and one can even try a course out. Capella University’s competency-based curriculum is built with input from employers and alignment to industry association standards.
- Southern New Hampshire: they have a starting point for online students and they have Student Support Services as well.
- Lynda.com: I’ve been a fan since I started reading Lynda Weinman books. If you can’t find training at Lynda.com you better plan on making it yourself. Lynda.com was recently purchased by LinkedIn.
Dealing with Challenging Students:
There’s one in every class, learn how to handle this energy.
- Six Ways to Support Adult Online Learners: Kelly actually cites Natlaie Peeterse’s findings, “adult learners need to become more aware of how they learn.” Because adult learners come to ‘their learning’ with some prior knowledge adult learners, with some guidance, can become more self-aware and learn how-to learn better.
- Types of Participant Roles: a somewhat humorous-yet very accurate- chart listing the different types of gorup participants and helpful moderator responses
Competency Based Learning:
- An Overview of ePortfolios: ePortfolios are a valuable learning and assessment.
- Competency-Based Learning or Personalized Learning: Transitioning away from seat time, in favor of a structure that creates flexibility, allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Competency based learning in combination with ePortfolios allow students to prove their learning.
A Shared Resource from MHE622 Foundations of Online Learning:
This contains weeks worth of annotated articles on a variety of resources relating to Online Learning.
You too are an online learner and here are some national and regional organizations in your professional field, familiarize yourself with the following:
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
Association of Nontraditional Students in Higher Education (ANTSHE)
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
American Council on Education (ACE)
Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
EDUCAUSE — Nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.
Higher Education Research Institute
Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities
The Institute for College Access and Success
National Association For Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)
National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
Commission on Institutions in Higher Education (CIHE)
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
