Getting students to sign up for online courses hasn’t
been a problem, but getting them to finish the course has. The University
System of Georgia (USG) has come up with a solution that is proving successful,
according to a study from Education Sector.
The system determined that nontraditional students
often take online classes with the misconception the course will be an easier version
of what is being offered in the classroom. Those students tend to fall behind
or drop out as they struggle with the difficulty of the online material.
To address the problem, USG developed a software
program called eCore coupled with student success teams of full-time university employees to help the
at-risk students. The eCore program provides instructors with alerts when
students are having trouble with assignments or fail to attend online
discussion boards. Team members then reach out to those online students during the
first half of the semester, according to Education Sector blogger Mandy
Zatynski.
“This semester, team members made 1,071 phone calls and
sent 1,126 e-mails to students who hadn’t logged in by day three,” Zatynski
told eCampus News.
“The primary reason students hadn’t shown up? They couldn’t find or didn’t know
their password.”
The program’s online retention rate for all USG
campuses was up to 83% in 2012, an 11% increase over 2011. Zatynski pointed particularly
to the University of West Georgia, where the retention rates are at 92%, up from
68% in 2007, when the team concept was launched.
“The lack of face-to-face accountability—and
disapproving professor looks—requires online students to demonstrate more
initiative and strong time-management skills,” Zatynski said. “And because half
of eCore’s students are 25 years or older, chances are schoolwork is one chore
on a long list of things to do and, thus, easy to push to the bottom if work or
family demands more time.”
