DLA2011 Five Myths about e-Learning

Five Distance Learning Myths Explored and Exploded
Barry Dahl
Excellence in e-Education

Barry Dahl dot com

Online Courses and Developmental Education
Data from Lake Superior College 2009-2010 academic year
#1

“Best Practices”
NCDE Director, Dr. Hunter Boylan
Keynote speech: “Best Practices in Developmental Education.”
During Q & A, he was asked to share examples of good practice in offering developmental courses via online delivery.

His Response?
“There aren’t any!”

He Continued
He went on to say that the completion rates (or success rates) in online developmental courses “are abysmal. Way below the rates for on-ground courses. ”

Case Study – Lake Superior College
Developmental Math Sequence – 3 courses
First taught online during Fall 2002
As of Spring 2010, a total of 91 online sections have been taught.
MATH 0450 Pre-Algebra
MATH 0460 Algebra I
MATH 0470 Algebra II

Developmental Writing Sequence – 2 courses
First taught online during Spring 2004
ENGL 0450 Writing I
ENGL 0460 Writing II

Developmental Reading Sequence – 2 courses
First taught online during Spring 2005
READ 0460 Reading II

AY 2010 Student Completion Results
510 students enrolled in online sections
2,226 students enrolled in on-ground sections
Course withdrawal rates were identical at 15.7% for both groups.

Grades Earned

Passing Grades in These Courses

AY 2010 Results
More A’s were given in online courses:
25.1% online
21.3% on-ground
More F’s were given in on-ground courses:
17.5% on-ground
16.8% online
GPA in these courses:
2.37 for online
2.31 for on-ground.

My Retort
Completion rates (or success rates) in online developmental courses “are no more abysmal than and NOT way below the rates for on-ground courses. ”
At least that is true for
Lake Superior College

Discussion TimeOnline Courses and Developmental Education

#2
QualityMatters™ should be the focal point of our online quality efforts.

Through the use of rubrics and standards related to the quality of online courses (i.e. Quality Matters™), we are sufficiently addressing the questions about e-learning quality
Reality
Myth

Learning
Quality
Concerns
Design
Teaching
QualityMatters is Sufficient
Um, no, it isn’t!!
QualityMatters looks at the quality of course design.
That’s good, but it’s only one leg holding up the stool.

Learning Level
Is High
Learning Assessment
Teaching Level
Is High
Course Design
Meets Standards
QualityMatters®
Performance Eval

Learning Level
Is Low
Learning Assessment
Teaching Level
Is High
Course Design
Meets Standards
QualityMatters®
Performance Eval

Learning Level
Is High
Learning Assessment
Teaching Level
Is High
Course Design
Below Standard
QualityMatters®
Performance Eval

Learning Level
Is Low
Learning Assessment
Teaching Level
Is Low
Course Design
Meets Standards
QualityMatters®
Performance Eval

Discussion TimeMoving Beyond QualityMatters™

#3
Digital Natives and Non-Traditional Students

Generations

Digital Natives

Net Generation

Next Generation

Nexters

Texters

Generation Y

Generation Why

Millennials

Generation Now

iGeneration

Echo Boomers

Google
Generation

Nintendo
Generation

Trophy
Generation

Screenagers

That’s Crazy Talk.
Let’s consolidate.

Digital
Net-Gennials

More crazy talk.
Let’s compare.

Conflicting Cottage Industries
“Digital Net-Gennials” are loosely defined as being born from 1980 (or ‘82) to 2000.
So, many of this “group” are between 25 and 30 years old.
“Non-traditional” age students are usually defined as being 25 years and older.

So, which is it?

Treat them as
Digital Natives?
or as
Non-Trads?

Discussion TimeDigital Natives and Non-Traditional Students

#4
Sense of Communityfor Online Learners

Online Community
Are you trying to build an online community for your e-campus?

Importance Scale - PSOL
PSOL – Importance Scores on 36 Items
Importance of sense of community

Why don’t they care about community?
Because they’re already up to
their eyeballs in ….
Already established
communities

Discussion TimeSense of Communityfor Online Learners

#5
Online Student Satisfaction Surveys

Option 1 - PSOL

Why PSOL?

59
PSOL Basics
There are 72 questions that comprise the PSOL. Average completion time is 15 minutes.
NOTE: questions are answered on a 7-point Likert scale, where 7 is high.

The Importance of Importance

That’s all good,but…….

Strengths/Challenges
Noel-Levitz identifies strengthsand challenges based on your data.
I call these “internal” strengths and challenges. They might not be a strength or a challenge when compared to others.

Are online students, as a group, more satisfied than the on-campus students?

64
NOTE: SSI is the Noel-Levitz Survey for on-ground learners, PSOL is the Noel-Levitz survey for online learners.

65
NOTE: SSI is the Noel-Levitz Survey for on-ground learners, PSOL is the Noel-Levitz survey for online learners.

What’s Missing?
Student tech usage rates
Student uses of non-campus technology
Computer skills assessment
Student success rates
Comparison between online and on-ground students (using same survey)

Student Uses of e-Services
Online Library Services
Never used it; didn't know about it.
Never used it; but was aware of it.
Have used it a little; will use again.
Have used it a little; won’t use it again.
Have used it a lot; planning to continue the same.
Have used it a lot; planning to reduce usage.

Great Expectations

2009 PSOL – Summary Statement
So far, how has your college experience met your expectations?
Overall score
5.0

But seriously…

Discussion TimeOnline Student Satisfaction Surveys

Five Distance Learning Myths Explored and Exploded
Barry Dahl
Excellence in e-Education

DLA2011 Five Myths about e-Learning

by Barry Dahl on May 25, 2011

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