State U Online: Up Close and Personal

This post originally appeared in New America’s blog In the Tank

When I was an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I took approximately 8-10 large lecture classes. I remember walking into my first lecture as a freshman—Introduction to International Relations—and choosing between a seat on the first floor or in the balcony. I chose the first floor, somewhere in the middle. The “classroom” that day was brimming with more than 500 students. As the professor went over the syllabus, it became evident that attendance at lecture was “strongly encouraged” as there would be no way to quickly take attendance. By the second lecture, there were many empty seats.

Many freshmen and sophomores who attend public universities find themselves stuck in these large, introductory courses. With no one to check up on them or give them personal attention, many fall through the cracks—they may stop attending class and then do poorly on exams, or they may fall behind and withdraw from the course.

With this in mind, when I began to research online courses and credentials at public universities for a policy report, I assumed I would find the same problems endemic to large lectures—high attrition and low success rates.  Instead, I found something that surprised me:  While some online courses may suffer the same problems as lectures, several universities have discovered simple ways to keep students engaged once they start exhibiting drop-out warning signs, like neglecting assignments or lectures. In many instances, the data collected about online students by some institutions create a safety net to prevent drop outs where none exists in a face-to-face lecture-hall setting.

In my policy report, State U Online, I profile one of the good actors that has built an effective safety net for its students—the University System of Georgia (USG). USG contains the 31 public colleges and universities in Georgia. Georgia’s postsecondary core-curriculum can be taken online through a program called eCore. This gives students the opportunity to complete the first two years of their collegiate careers online and transfer the credits anywhere within the system. Courses are designed, developed, taught, and supported by faculty and staff from USG.

Not only does eCore give students a flexible opportunity to take common introductory courses, it also provides the support to ensure most students complete the course. At the University of West Georgia, for example, students enrolled online through eCore experienced a higher retention rate than those enrolled in face-to-face courses. This is due in large part to eCore’s student success team that was created in 2007 to bolster online retention rates. The eCore team keeps robust data on their students—from when the majority of students log in (most complete course work between 8-10pm on Sundays) to whether a student has attempted to complete an assignment. If a student exhibits warning signs that they are falling behind, a member of the student success team personally contacts them by phone and email to understand where the student is having problems. This can add up to almost 600 calls a day and thousands of emails.

From technical snafus, to academic roadblocks, to personal problems, student success advisors help eCore students navigate their courses to completion. According to a report by Mandy Zatynski at Education Sector, one USG faculty member who teaches both face-to-face and eCore classes suggests that instructors of face-to-face courses could learn a thing or two about eCore’s model. She says, “Our on-campus classes are realizing that if we can identify these students early on, who aren’t attending well—especially with freshmen—if someone can follow up with them, that can make a difference.”

Just like with face-to-face courses, some online courses are better than others. Some, like those found in eCore, fully integrate technology, data, and personal touches to yield the same, if not better, retention outcomes than face-to-face instruction. With so many students not reaching the finish line in our higher education system, colleges and universities can learn from eCore and other programs like it to find the solution to helping their students get to a degree—one course at a time.