AHE 591: Lesson 2

The readings this week really made me think outside the box of how I have normally thought about online learning. First of all, I've never given much consideration to the different types of online learning that take place, such as the web facilitated, blended/hybrid, and online styles that the Allen and Seaman text describes. More specifically, I suppose I've never thought about who determines what proportion of the class will be deliver online, and what proportion, if any, will be delivered face-to-face? Does that decision come from instructor teaching the class, a division chair, or an academic dean? My ignorance on this topic stems from working on the student services side of the house in higher education.

Also of interest to me in the Allen and Seaman text was the section titled "Is Retention of Students Harder in Online Courses?" As an Advisor at Gadsden State Community College, one of my main responsibilities is to ensure that the students who are enrolled at my institution STAY at my institution, until they have either graduated or transferred. All of the literature I have read on retention basically says that an engaged student will be a retained student. The more a student is engaged academically and socially into their college environment, the more likely they are to stay until they reached their academic goals. My question is: as online offerings continue to increase, how do institutions engage students academically and socially if students rarely, or in some cases never, come on campus? I believe we can engage students in this way online, but it will take more than just getting them to "Like" our Facebook page or "Follow" us on Twitter. The online experience will somehow have to rival that of the on-campus experience. The Allen and Seaman text echo this sentiment. "Concern about retention is one of the rare areas where those experienced with online education have a more pessimistic view than those lacking such experience. An institution's online education experience does lead to a stronger conviction that it is harder to retain students in online courses" (p. 19).

On the flip side of this argument, online learning does have the capacity to help institutions retain students by offering them more course options. When classroom space is defined by brick-and-mortar buildings, space is limited, class seating gets filled up, and the course gets closed. Space is unlimited, however, with online course offerings. More course offerings can lead to students reaching their academic goals more quickly, and time has always been an enemy to retention and persistence to degree completion. The EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Reseach study backs this sentiment. "Online courses often help by increasing the number of sections of a course offered, the number of students who can take the course, or the frequency with which a course is offered. This can be especially helpful when students drop or fail out of prerequisite course that are a part of a major and have to retake them before advancing to the next course level" (p. 11).