New research found that first-year online students have
incorrect notions about how the educational process will work. That leads to unrealistic
study choices and could be a major factor in high dropout rates for online
learning.
The report,
Stories from Students in Their First Semester of Distance Learning, was compiled
from video diaries of 20 first-time full-time online students by the
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. The study
showed that factors such as family circumstances and employment directly
influence the study habits and motivation of the students.
Researchers noted how students perceive the flexibility
and the self-paced nature of online courses can lead some to ignore assignments
viewed as nonessential and to disengage from the course. Those preconceived
notions make it more important for institutions to provide support students
during the enrollment period, according to a report in eCampus News.
The data indicated that a strong sense of belonging keeps
students engaged in a course and that digital skills are important, especially
for older students. The researchers also found a “high-risk” period near the
end of the semester, when institutional support services can help keep students
on track.
“Distance
providers and prospective students alike need to work together to design what
is achievable in a way that is not just a crude calculation of hours available,
predicated on the ill-formed assumption that distance learning is a ‘lone wolf’
experience offering more flexibility than on-campus learning,” the authors of
the report wrote. “Courses need to be designed to complement their busy lives
and support services need to adequately help them survive beyond the first few
weeks in an environment that is most likely starkly different from that of a
campus learner.”
