Abstract:

Online learning has become a relevant way to learn around the world. It offers learners the ability to seek a degree while balancing work, family, and other obligations. However, retention is still a problem. So what is the secret of success in online learning? What can institutions do to help prevent online students from dropping out of their studies? These are clearly vitally important questions. Both morally and educationally, institutions have a duty to do everything they can to help online students make a success of their higher education.

Institutions engaging in online learning must look at structure, processes, and procedures to support an online learner from admissions to graduation. In this paper, I will present a framework for a student success ecosystem that supports students throughout the educational lifecycle to help them persist and meet the expected outcomes of an online program of study. The paper will consider how an institution markets online programs and communicates realistic expectations of online learning to perspective students during the admission process. It will discuss academic support to scaffold learning from both a cognitive and psychology perspective to ensure students have the needed support to persist in learning. It will also present a model for how to change student behavior to support persistence in the online learning environment. A behavior change model must consider both the online student’s motivation and ability and develop appropriate communication “triggers” to improve the student’s motivation and academic supports to increase their ability to meet expected learning outcomes. Finally, the paper will present a set of intervention principles to consider when working with at risk online students.

Keywords:

Distance education, online learning, retention, persistence, academic support.