Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Education: Third Edition

by Ormond Simpson

Overview

Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Learning, Third Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of student support both on and off campus. While online and distance learning are the world’s fastest growing areas of educational development, they have a fundamental weakness—their graduation rates, which can be lower than 20 percent. In this powerful new edition, Ormond Simpson builds on a rich history of research in distance and e-learning to show how retention rates can be improved through tested support methods, often at a net financial profit to the institutions involved.

By comparing the evidence as well as the cost-effectiveness of various support tactics, this book describes how to promote student success and encourage skill-development from a number of different perspectives: definitions and purpose, theory and psychology, ethics, costs and benefits, activities, sources, media, proactive and reactive, assessment and feedback, staff development, writing support into course materials, research, quality assurance and institutional structures. This concise, practical guide is informal and jargon-free, yet its approach to evidence is rigorous, making it invaluable reading for all those interested in recruiting and teaching diverse students for successful online and distance learning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781136215520
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/17/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ormond Simpson is currently a Fellow of the University of London Centre for Distance Education, UK. His most recent post was at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand where he was Visiting Professor. Prior to that he was Senior Lecturer in Institutional Research at the UK Open University and worked in student support. He has run workshops and seminars in South Africa, Ghana, China, the West Indies, Colombia, South Korea, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Brazil, and throughout Europe.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: distance education – successes and failures

Chapter 2 Student support in online and distance education – definitions and practices

Chapter 3 Non-academic student support

Chapter 4 Academic support – tuition

Chapter 5 Theories of student support

Chapter 6 Learning motivation for distance education student support

Chapter 7 Designing student support for success

Chapter 8 Media for support – e-learning

Chapter 9 Enrolment, induction and preparation

Chapter 10 Retrieval

Chapter 11 Cost benefits of student support in online and distance education

Chapter 12 Course design and support for success

Chapter 13 Student Support Outside the Institution

Chapter 14 Student support for different students

Chapter 15 Evaluation, research, innovation and change in student support

Chapter 16 Staff development and institutional structures for student success in distance education

Chapter 17 A Last Word

Editorial Reviews

"The book first tackles the reasons why people drop out of open courses. This is clearly important because if the reasons for drop-outs are known then it will be easier to find solutions... The next part of the book then goes on to explore how students could be retained on open courses. If any MOOC organisers are concerned about keeping as many students as possible on their courses then this part of the book should be a must-read." - Colin Hynson, Open Learning Reviews

From the Publisher