I read with little surprise the findings shared in an article related to the dismal success and transfer rate of community college students enrolled in online classes early in their academic journey. It seems to me that the results of the study would be obvious and despite the findings of the study, there seems to be a constant push to increase distance learning offerings. In my humble opinion, I believe it is related to the potential for untapped tuition dollars and the competition between institutions to offer online coursework.
According to the article, online community college students completed their online courses less than students in traditional classroom settings. It seems the very reasons that attract community college students to take online courses are some of the same reasons they are unable to be successful. Such things as work and family obligations, time constraints, and flexible schedules are among the things that attract a student to choose to enroll in online courses. However, students are often unprepared for the time commitment, lack peer resources and support, and fail to have the level of technology savy required to be successful in online courses.
In the race to be competitive and to meet the increasing desire from the technology competent traditional college student, online offerings are on the rise, at least at the college where I work. However, as the article pointed out, careful consideration needs to be given in terms of who is taking the online courses and if the institution is doing all that they could and should to enhance the chance of success for the online students. One such measure could be to refrain from offering pre-college level courses online. As an academic advisor, I never advise students to enroll in remedial courses online, but since the college does offer a few, it is within the student’s rights to choose the online option.
Another solution worth exploring would be to require first year students to complete at least twelve credit hours of face to face course work before allowing online enrollment at a community college. I bring this up for several reasons. The first reason, is because the student population of a community college are often academically unprepared, nontraditional aged, work at least part-time with families to support, and tend to have less technology skills than students at a university setting . A minimum requirement of traditional class time would give the student a chance to; acclimate to college culture, obtain a sense of the rigor associated with higher education, realistically evaluate and improve their technology skills, and develop a time system to manage their numerous roles.
In summation, I would be remiss if I did not confess that the aforementioned recommendations are greatly influenced by my own experience as a nontraditional, academically unprepared (I started in remedial math classes), working mother of two, and barely functional in technology (sadly, I still suffer from technology illiteracy) community college student. I was extremely tempted by online courses because of my restrictive schedule and my fear of not fitting in with the college culture. Thankfully, my academic advisor steered me away from online courses. If I had started out with online courses, I have no doubt I would have joined the statistics outlined in the article.
Janet I appreciate your honest post. I too am not surprised about the findings of the article. Generally, I am skeptical about online learning. If we listed all the reasons colleges offer online courses I would doubt one of those reasons would be because online learning is better for students. Not only do non-traditional community college students have a difficult time with this format of class, I believe traditional students do as well. I also wonder why students take online courses. Janet listed multiple reasons students may be attracted to this offer: work and family obligations, time constraints, and flexible schedule. I can respect that. Many students have more responsibilities than just being a learner. Those who may be a single parent or overloaded with work just to support themselves may see this as a perfect way to fit in college credits while they can still live their life.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, students whose main responsibility is to be a learner also are attracted to these online courses. Why? Well I can tell you from personal experience that I once took an online class because I had little interest in the subject (stats) and I thought it would be an easy way to just get it over with. I can tell you that it was a waste of time and money. One of my criticisms of online learning is that students have an easier time “hiding” or doing the bare minimum and still pass the class. I could go on and on about this but this brings me back to Janet’s post. I also believe there should be some regulations universities have for students wanting to take online courses. I think students should only be allowed to take online classes if they have a certain amount of credits completed, if they cannot possibly take this same class in a regular format, and they should get a special pin code to register for this class after an advisor approves.
Thanks for your post, Janet! I posted on this subject just before you. While I am an advocate for online education (in a “real-time” format), I do believe it is much more appropriately directed and sufficient for graduate students. I appreciate your notion of requiring students to attend campus courses in person for twelve credits before considering an online course. This brings up a lot of my red flags for online-only programs…especially at the graduate level! These students are oftentimes admitted and go through their entire programs without ever meeting a professor face-to-face. Especially in the mental health profession, we take gate-keeping very seriously. Unfortunately, there are still many graduate programs (both Master’s and PhD) that offer degrees in psychology and counseling completely online.
ReplyDeleteIf you read into my post, you’ll see that online education can be a valuable tool, for many of the reasons you've already mentioned for appeal. I firmly believe that at least a hybrid course (where students meet on campus at least twice throughout the semester) is necessary to ensure the adequate amount of buy-in and accountability for students.
Kylie Rogalla