Retention: Course Completion Rates in Online Distance Learning

Online courses in higher education are growing in popularity (Putulowski & Crosby, 2019). The worldwide COVID pandemic of 2020 brought new attention to online courses and the percentage of higher education students enrolled in online courses skyrocketed from 29.7% in 2015 (Allen & Seaman, 2017) to 75% in 2020 (NCES, 2022). By 2022, an average of 54.2 % of higher education students enrolled in an online course (NCES, 2023). The student experience in online courses can be impacted by many different factors including work and family responsibilities, study commitments for the course, insufficient time, ill health, and approach to learning (Farrell & Brunton, 2020; Willging & Johnson, 2019). Students may also encounter different barriers such as institutional, technological, financial, and pedagogical barriers that may hinder their online student experience (Neben, 2014). Much of the research that focused on what students in higher education perceive as barriers to their online experience has been conducted prior to the COVID pandemic of 2020. This body of research points to a range of perceived barriers to the online student experience such as lack of social interaction, instructor issues, time and support for studies, learner motivation, and technology issues that can interfere with the online student experience (Muilenburg & Berge, 2005). This survey study was conducted to determine what barriers are perceived in online courses after the COVID pandemic of 2020. The survey consisted of two measures including the Barriers to Online Learning measure developed by Muilenburg and Berge (2005) and the Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) used to measure student self-regulation in online learning (Barnard et al., 2009). Composite means of barrier subscales were determined as well as the percentage of participants who rated barrier subscales as a moderate barrier or stronger. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to determine if there were significant differences in perception of barriers among genders, self-regulated learning levels, graduate and undergraduate students, and the number of online courses taken. Motivational barriers were rated as a moderate barrier or higher by the highest percentage of participants. Social barriers had the second highest percentage of participants rating them as a moderate barrier or higher. Also, data suggest that perceptions of barriers are not significantly different among genders. Participants who reported lower levels of self-regulation in learning had significantly higher scores for the motivation barriers than participants who reported higher levels of self-regulation in learning, graduate students rated time barriers significantly higher

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become one of the influential tsunamis in higher education. To face the overwhelming trend, the current designed-based research develops feasibly evidence-based, iterative-improved, innovative instructional S-IDEAL model that effectively utilizes the open educational resources to foster deeper scientific learning experiences in the context of Small Private Online Courses in higher education. The two studies gradually reveal how the designed SPOCs improve the deeper learning experiences in the context of Neuroscience through the learning performance, the learning experience surveys, the in-depth interviews, the in-class field observation, and the video-recording of the in-class discussion. Empirical findings show that the S-IDEAL model is ideal for implementing flipped scientific classroom. Other interesting findings and the future suggestions are depicted in this study.

Aim/Purpose. Higher education institutions face difficulties and challenges when it comes to distance learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine self-efficacy indicators and student satisfaction during online English classes. Background. E-learning has been very relevant since the Covid-19 era and is still relevant today. It is possible for students to study regardless of their location or time. By measuring students’ self-efficacy, instructors can gain valuable insights into their students’ ability to create social interaction, cope with technology, and acquire knowledge and tools to manage the learning process. Methodology. This study uses mixed methods along with two measurements. Before and after the course, quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Higher education students in Israel participated. A total of 964 students enrolled in English as a foreign language courses at the pre-basic, basic, and advanced levels. Contribution. Analyzing self-efficacy from several angles provides insight into students. What influences students’ confidence and belief in their ability to succeed in online courses. Moreover, how students perceive their own learning and how they cope with challenges. Findings. Compared to the measurement before the course, self-efficacy decreased on average. Most significant decreases occurred in ‘creating social interactions’ and ‘acquirement of knowledge and tools’ to manage the learning process. A slight decrease was observed in the ability to cope with technology. Additionally, self-efficacy and satisfaction with the course were positively correlated. Recommendations for Practitioners. An overview is provided of the most effective tools and techniques for teaching languages in digital format in this paper. This will allow instructors to design and deliver courses in a more effective way. Thus, they will be able to make better informed decisions, resulting in better outcomes for students. Recommendations for Researchers. Distance Learning courses should resemble the common digital environments in everyday life, rather than imitating face-to-face courses mainly in the field of social interaction. Impact on Society. Digital tools should be encouraged that facilitate effective learning processes instead of sticking to traditional methods that characterize face-to-face courses. Using common interfaces in daily use among the general population will enable the implementation of these recommendations. Future Research. Future studies could be helpful if they compared the English courses developed in the CEFR model with those taught face-to-face as well as those taught online. In addition, motivation and self-monitoring should be examined in both synchronous and asynchronous courses as well.

Online courses in higher education became prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, their application requires technology to be fully integrated into the curriculum. This study explores the integration of a blockchain-based platform in a private online stock simulation trading course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a pre–post experimental design with 142 college students, it assessed learning behaviors and outcomes. Students collaborated with teaching assistants via LINE groups, fostering discussion and engagement. They received cryptocurrency rewards, which enhanced motivation and connected the course to their career goals. The findings suggest that combining blockchain and social networking is an effective approach to improving online education. This contributes to the literature on educational technology and online learning by exploring the integration of blockchain and social networking in higher education, specifically within the context of stock simulation trading courses, and demonstrates its impact on student motivation and learning outcomes.

The authors are Instructional Designers developing online courses in higher education. These courses are facilitated by Subject Matter Experts and delivered through a Learning Management System. They propose that instructional alignment with pedagogic beliefs is the best instructional foundation for original course designs in this instructional context, and examine three factors unique to this context. They propose new instructional design models and a new instructional system of design to address the instructional challenges specific to their learning system context.

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between class size and student outcomes (final grades and DFW rates) in online higher education courses offered by a large, 4 year public institution in the United States. The following class size cut-off points were used: 8-15 vs. 16 or more students, 8-30 vs. 31 or more students, 8-40 vs. 41 or more students, and 8-50 vs. 51 or more students. Course level data included average final grades and DFW rates for 391 online undergraduate courses taught during the years 2017 and 2018. Significant results suggest that students earned higher grades in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) and upper-division courses when online courses included 30 or fewer students. This suggests that it may be beneficial to limit certain kinds of courses to 30 students or fewer, as 30 students may be a tipping point where the benefits of smaller online classes wear off.

Laboratory Earth, a series of three NASA-Sponsored, on-line graduate courses for K-8 teachers, was designed to meet a variety of learning styles and appeal to teachers’ motivation to learn the content and improve their teaching. This is especially important to teachers as they seek to demonstrate “highly qualified” status to meet No Child Left Behind standards. These graduate-level courses consist of four modules of two to four lessons each. Pre- and post-course surveys indicated significant increases in teachers’ (n=51) content knowledge, science teaching efficacy beliefs (STEBI-A), sense of community within the course (LEO) and science teaching enjoyment (STES). Qualitative data indicated teachers valued the cohort system, content aligned to teaching needs, and the instructor’s response to requested feedback. Results indicated that online courses can provide valuable professional development opportunities for K-12 science teachers to deepen their knowledge, sharpen their skills, and maintain their knowledge of science developments. Because teachers play an important role in the development of their student’s attitudes towards science, it is extremely important that science and education communities collaborate to create courses that use contemporary pedagogy to address the content-knowledge needs of teachers required by National Science Standards criteria.

This multiple case study explores how instructors conceptualize and employ scaffolding in online courses. Participants included full time faculty (n = 4) who have designed and taught at least one online course within the past 12 months. Data sources included pre-interview surveys, semi-structured interviews, and online course observations. Data were analyzed by employing a general analytical strategy for developing a case description (Yin, 2018). The results showed that (a) instructors define scaffolding as a support to help students achieve course outcomes and (b) instructors implement different types of scaffolding (i.e., conceptual, metacognitive, procedural, strategic, and motivational) in hard and soft scaffolding forms. The results also showed that instructors' conceptualization and implementation of scaffolding differed based on their discipline and teaching philosophy, and the unique features of online courses. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the use of TPACK and Twitter in an graduate level online course. The overarching research question is, “How is social media, in particular, Twitter, being used in an online graduate course?” This study uses the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework to provide a common language for describing the use of Twitter from an instructional design and research perspective. Data collection included (a) conversational and interactive dialogue between the researchers that included the instructional designer/course instructor, (b) the archived online course, and (c) the class Tweets (from Twitter) identified with class hashtags. Through collaborative autoethnography, the researchers (a) analyzed the instructional designer’s (also course instructor) practices, contextualizing TPACK principles for the design of the online course learning objectives and Twitter activities, and (b) engaged in an in-depth analysis of students’ tweets. Major themes identified are (a) TPACK framework explicitly supported online course design using Twitter, (b) facilitated fluency for technology integration, (c) promoted consciousness and reflection, (d) enhanced transfer of knowledge, and (e) heightened presences (cognitive, social, and teaching). One primary implication is that using TPACK for instructional design can create a common vocabulary and understanding for educators, instructional designers, and researchers.

SUMMARY Marshall University has a 29-year history of delivering graduate education to in-service teachers. In 1997 the college began using Internet-based courses as a means of reaching an expanding service area. Currently the Graduate School of Education and Professional Development has over 300 courses developed for Internet delivery. During any given semester, approximately 80 online graduate courses are offered. As the emphasis on Web-based delivery has increased, the college has addressed the issue of quality control at several levels, including student surveys, online course evaluations, faculty surveys, faculty peer reviews, and a course approval process. This paper will present a case study of the evolution of our efforts to improve the quality of course development and delivery.

Learning online could be an entirely new experience for students who are used to learning in face-to-face contact settings. Of importance are the ways course instructors and learners transition to online teaching and learning. Underpinned by the Community of Inquiry framework, the study sought to explore and understand the online learning experiences of participants on a 4-week long intensive training programme in a rural-based university in Eswatini. A purposive sample of eleven participants participated in the study by completing a programme evaluation form and participating in a virtual focus group discussion session. The thematic content analysis method was utilised to analyse qualitative data. The study found that while the participants found online learning exciting and flexible, they had different interpretations of their interactions with content, peers, course instructors and technology. The study concludes that effective online teaching and learning is dependent on the meaningful interaction of the learners with content, peers, course instructors and technology. There are important pedagogical implications on how online course instructors should establish and maintain the three ‘presences’ which are the cognitive, the social and the teaching in ways that impact positively on the online learners’ learning processes. Keywords: Online learning. Interaction. Presence. Online pedagogy DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-20-02 Publication date: July 31 st 2022

Exam preparation, reskilling and certification, casual learning, higher education language, and primary and secondary supplemental education are some of the areasthat make up the online education sector. With a predicted CAGR of 46.48 percent, the market for online primary and secondary supplemental education would increase in value from INR 11.99 billion in 2018 to INR 123.65 billion by 2024. A shift in consumer behaviour toward detailed learning and an increase in demand from tier IIand tier III cities are what are fuelling the growth of this industry. From 2019 to 2024, the market for online reskilling and certification is projected to expand at a CAGR of 36.95 percent, reaching INR 93.81 Bn. The growing skill gap among workers brought on by the growing business environment is driving up the demand for reskilling programmes. The market for online higher education is expected to increase at a CAGR of 40.74 percent from 2019 to 2024 to reach INR 40.63 billion, from an estimated value of INR 5.01 billion in 2018. Because the traditional educational system cannot meet the demands of the growing population, students are turning to online higher education courses. This paper throws light on the importance of online education, and percentage of people relying on online education and their dependency on the various courses and the features of it in particular. Keywords: E-learning, Online, Certifications, Programmes.

This study is conducted to identify the level of digital literacy for educators in Arab world who use Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in higher education. In addition, the study aims to determine educators' attitude towards adopting MOOC platforms in teaching some courses in higher education. In the light of this context, proposing a unified MOOC platform for Arab universities is also considered as one of the important aspects to carry out as a part of this study. It is well known that MOOC is adopted by limited number of higher education institutions in the Arab world; however, MOOC as an e-learning platform requires a specific level of digital literacy for all stakeholders. Educators are important members of those stakeholders. Nevertheless, very few studies have been conducted to shed light on the importance of digital literacy on educators' attitude towards MOOC in Arab countries. Actually, the majority of the studies focus on studying the perception of learners and MOOC users rather than educators. In this study the "Digital Literacy Scale" (DLS) was used to measure the digital skills of educators. Whereas "Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology" (UTAUT) model has been amended to identify the attitude of educators towards MOOC platform. Consistent with this, questionnaires were administered on a sample of 200 educators from higher education institutions in Arab world who participated in MOOC. Moreover, observations and interviews have been conducted to test the hypothesis and to answer the five questions of this study.

Online education is becoming an increasingly important component of higher education. The Sloan Foundation 2010 Survey of Online Learning reports that more than 30% of all students take at least one online course during their college career. Because of this, attention is now turning to the quality of student outcomes that this instructional method provides. However, there is a huge gap in empirical investigations devoted to the link between technology and performance indicators such as grade performance, re-enrollment and course completion (Nora & Plazas Snyder, 2008). This study found that prior online course experience is strongly correlated with future online course success. In fact, knowing a student’s prior online course success explains 13.2% of the variation in retention and 24.8% of the variation in online success in our sample, a large effect size. Students who have not successfully completed any previous online courses have very low success and retention rates, and students who have successfully completed all prior online courses have fairly high success and retention rates. Therefore, this study suggests that additional support services need to be provided to previously unsuccessful online learners, while students who succeed online should be encouraged to enroll in additional online courses in order to increase retention and success rates in online learning.

The rapid development of technological advances has brought many alterations and development to many profit-driven as well as non-profit-oriented organizations. Higher learning institutions have also benefited from technological advancements in this setting. Although the use of technology and the widespread use of online learning are no longer uncommon in the technology world, the introduction by students, undergraduate and postgraduate students of online learning courses, however, is still not as familiar as expected. This study focuses on the adoption and implementation of Malaysian higher education online courses to reach out to rural students and thus provides a systematic conceptual framework that emphasises the effect of different aspects. Students are enrolled in online courses at public and private universities in Malaysia, as they have been removed from the path of formal education. Using a self-directed survey, the data will be collected. Ultimately, the outcomes of this study can provide valuable insights into organisational methods and strengthen the leadership of a university administration that can contribute to improving student involvement and efficient programme usage.