Sizing up Your Students, Part 1: Improving Online Retention and Success Susan Kincade March 14, 2008 For audio call Toll Free and use PIN/code

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West Hills Community College District Who are we?

Online Enrollment for Six Academic Years

WHCCD Online Enrollment by Ethnicity

WHCCD Online Enrollment by Age

Online and Classroom Grade Comparison for Same Students –

Online Success and Retention

West Hills Online Instruction-Spring ,429 Students Enrolled 71 Faculty : 26 Full-Time Faculty & 45 Part-Time Faculty 122 Course Sections 24 Disciplines : AOJ, Art, Bio, Bus, Child Dev, CIS, EA, Econ, Eng, Geog, Geology, Health, History, Hum, IS, Math, Music, Nut, PE, Phil, Phys Sci, Poli Sci, Psych, Sociology Four AA Degrees Online –AOJ - Law Enforcement –Liberal Arts –Psychology –Social Sciences

West Hills Online Instruction-Spring ,707 Students Enrolled (still enrolling) 85 Faculty : 26 Full-Time Faculty & 45 Part-Time Faculty 157 Course Sections 25 Disciplines : AOJ, Art, Bio, Bus, Child Devlmt, CIS, EA, Econ, Eng, Geog, Geology, Health, History, Hum, IS, Math, Music, Nut, PE, Phil, Phys Sci, Poli Sci, Psych, Sociology, Social Work Four AA Degrees Online –AOJ - Law Enforcement –Liberal Arts –Psychology –Social Sciences

Online Retention: A Three Step Process Student Support Faculty Support and Training Online Classroom Administration

STUDENT SUPPORT Help Desk Coordinator Telephone and Response Support Provide Support for ALL Services

We Have…. –Student –Online Admissions –Online Registration –Online Add/Drop –e-Commerce Payment Option –Transcript Requests –Blackboard Learning Platform for Online and Web-Enhanced Classes

FACULTY SUPPORT Education Technology Specialist ODT -On Demand Training Toys, Tools, Technology

On-Demand Training What IS ODT?: –Faculty Come to Workshops –Faculty Call for Help –Faculty Come to Our Office –Faculty Wait for Us to Come To Them!

Increasing Success What Can Be Done? What Are We Doing? –Online Orientations for Faculty and Students –Best Practices Training for Faculty Teaching Online –Research other Institutions for Best Practices – Continue to Innovate

Innovative Student Services Online tutoring and rich feedback (teaching assistants) through EduMetry

New Endeavors Continued… Online Faculty Listserve –Blackboard Repository not working –Use to Disseminate important info –Use to have discussion items –Use to share best practices from other institutions Syllabus Template –A case of Wheres Waldo –Easier for Faculty –Easier for Students

New Endeavors Podcasting –1 st Problem–being confused with Vodcasting! –2 nd Problem –ADA compliant! –3 rd Problem –cant get Bb Building Block to work! –Were doing Podcasting release to faculty now, knowing that vodcasting is going to be the Very Next Thing and theyll want it NOW!

New Endeavors… Online Evaluation Tool for Full Time Faculty that is in the Bargaining Unit Language –Next Step is Education (no pun intended) –How do you evaluate an online course? –What do you look for besides Discussion Board, Announcements, Assignments, and Stats?

Part-Time InstructorTotal Load Total WSCH WSCH/Load +/- State Target 525 Watts, Kathryn % Butts, Lisa % Grenseman, Paul % Esposito, Michael % Warkentin, Brooke % Bezis, Justin % Johnson, Brenda % Ledesma, Elizabeth % Dean, Carl % Aquino, Joe % Forth, Donald %

Online Classroom Best Practices? –Review Syllabi for Outline Ed Code Compliance –Populate Tabs Appropriately –Remove Tabs That Have No Content –Set Up Discussion Board Appropriately –Review Discussion Board for Inappropriate Use –Review Assignments for Relevance (not cut and paste job from wrong course) –Use Online Gradebook Function –Drop Inactive Students

Online Classroom Best Practices/2 –Review Links to Make Sure Theyre Active –Update Course Each Semester –Ensure Content is Current –Check for Accessibility Issues –Weekly to Students –Use Large Font for Announcements –Start Course with Strong Communication –Maintain Rigor –Add Multi Media as You Go

Decisions… Every course can have high retention and high success rates, IF you sacrifice Rigor. Every course can have low retention and low success rates, IF you sacrifice quality instruction. Somewhere in the middle of that continuum or rubric if you will, there is Rigor, Quality Instruction, AND high retention and success.

Overall Great Resource Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks JALN: Is "As Good as Face-to-Face" As Good As It Gets?

Q & A What can I answer for you?

Evaluation Survey Link

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