DIMENSIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR ONLINE SUCCESS: VOICES FROM EXPERIENCED EDUCATORS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v6i1.1872Keywords:
Learning Effectivness, Distance Education, Course Planning, Faculty PerspectivesAbstract
Online learning has become a popular method of education. Faculty members may know little about how to assist students in succeeding in a new learning environment, and students may be ill-prepared to tackle the new demands put upon them. Therefore, this research seeks to identify dimensions of successful online learners by examining primary screening documents and then mapping them to the literature base. Next, experienced online educators are asked to review the dimensions and to provide strategies that they use to ensure student success. Seven dimensions are identified and confirmed as significant, each dimension with slightly different importance— including access to tools; technology experience; learning preferences; study habits and skills; goals or purposes; lifestyle factors; and personal traits and characteristics. In addition, several online teaching strategies (including students’ posting biographies; frequent interaction; collaboration; requiring participation; question-asking forums; topical flexibility; and minimizing technology requirements) have been recommended.
References
Radford, A. The future of multimedia in education, First Monday, Vol. 2, No. 11, Available online at http://131.193.231/issues/issue2_11/radford/index.html, 1997.
Gibbs, W. J. Implementing online learning environments, Journal of Computers in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 16-37, 1998.
Palloff, R. M., and Pratt, K. Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999.
Schrum, L. On-line education: A study of emerging pedagogy, In Cahoon, B. (Ed.), Adult Learning and the Internet, Vol. 78, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, pp. 53-61, 1998.
Gerencher, K.. MBA programs go online, InfoWorld, Vol. 20, pp. 71-72, 1998.
Mangan, K. S. Top business schools seek to ride a bull market in on-line MBA's, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 45, No. 19, pp. A27-A28, 1999.
Candiotti, A., and Clarke, N. Combining universal access with faculty development and academic facilities, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 36-41, 1998.
Schrum, L., and Berge, Z. L. Creating student interaction within the educational experience: A challenge for online teachers, Canadian Journal of Educational Communication Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 133-144, 1998.
Schrum, L., & Benson, A. Online professional education: A case study of an MBA program through its transition to an online model, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Environments Vol. 4, No. 1, Available online at http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/Vol4_issue1/schrum.htm .
Kember, D. Open learning courses for adults: A model of student progress, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications, 1995.
Schrum, L. Online teaching and learning: Essential conditions for success!, In Lau, L. (Ed.), Online teaching and learning, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 91-106, 2000.
Wiesenberg, F., and Hutton, S. Teaching a graduate program using computer-mediated conferencing software, Journal of Distance Education, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 83-100, 1996.
Broad, M. The dynamics of quality assurance in online distance education, Electronic Journal of Instructional Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, Available online at http://www.usq.edu.au/electpub/e-jist/voleno1/index.htm, 1999.
Rogers, J. Communities of practice: A framework for fostering coherence in virtual learning communities, Educational Technology & Society, Vol. 3, No. 3, Available online at http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/ifets/periodical/vol_3_2000/e01.html, 2000.
Wenger, E. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge: University Press, 1998.
Brandt, D. S. Constructivism: Teaching for understanding of the Internet, Communication of the ACM, Vol. 40, No. 10, pp. 112-117, 1997.
Yakimovicz, A. D., and Murphy, K. L. Constructivism and collaboration on the Internet: Case study of a graduate class experience, Computers and Education, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 203-209, 1995.
Olson, M. H., and Bly, S. A. The Portland experience: A report on a distributed research group’, In Greenberg, S. (Ed.), Computer supported cooperative work and groupware, Academic Press Limited, San Diego, pp. 81-98, 1991.
Dehler, C., and Poirras-Hernandez, L. H. Using computer mediated communication (CMC) to promote experiential learning in graduate studies, Educational Technology, Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 52-55, 1998.
King, K. P. Course development on the world wide web, In Cahoon, B. (Ed.), Adult Learning and the Internet Vol. 78, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, pp. 25-32, 1998.
Schrum, L. Students and online learning: Dimensions that promote success, (Unpublished report). Atlanta, GA: Georgia Learning Online for Business and Education, 1999.
Merriam, S. B. Qualitative research and case study applications in education, (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998.
Weber, R. P. Basic content analysis, (2nd ed.), Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990.
Merriam, S. B. Case study research in education: A qualitative approach, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1988.
Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. Qualitative data analysis, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1984.
Lincoln, Y. S., and Guba, E. G. Naturalistic inquiry, Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications, 1985.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.
Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions
