Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Features
Serving the Online Learner
4/1/2007
Support and advising systems provide a competitive edge for institutions by helping to develop a lasting relationship between eLearner and school.
SYSTEMS AND SERVICES for recruiting, advising, and support of online students have seldom been at the top of the list when planning online and distance learning programs. That is now changing: Forces pushing advising and support services into the foreground include recognition of the student learner as “customer” and the increasing expectations and demands of government and business in our global information economy. The recent release (September 2006) of the Spellings Commission report, A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of US Higher Education, notes a lack of systems that track the progress of individual students over time and across institutions—and is sure to increase the focus on these systems.
AN INVESTMENT in online support services for eLearners is moving the Ohio Learning Network, Rio Salado College, and North Carolina State University ahead of the pack.
Institutions will be investing in and transforming their advising and support services, and it is now not a question of if, but of when. For now, however, investing in systems and services that focus on the learner’s needs, lifestyle goals, and choices may well hold the key to competitive edge in the world of online learning.
Forging Early Relationships
The key to affordability for these systems probably lies in approaches that encourage a long-term relationship between the student and the institution. The period of data gathering and decision-making is an important advising juncture for many online learners; a time during which institutions have an opportunity to capture the learner and forge connections that last over time, even if, at that point, those potential students are not actually providing revenue to an institution. Potential undergraduates are also potential customers; they are searching for colleges that match their academic, life, and financial needs. Prospective students of graduate and professional programs are searching for affordable programs that fit into their career, life, and family responsibilities. And many working adults and professionals are looking for programs that will increase their skills and general earnings potential. Not surprisingly, institutions have employed all sorts of tactics to demonstrate that they can meet those needs.
Free online courses. Schools are utilizing a number of techniques to get into students’ heads early on: One is the use of free online courses and databases about online learning and program information. The
Recommended Reading
- Emerging Tech Challenges
- Interesting Developments
New projector technologies and features offer improved picture quality, reductions in operation and installation costs, and challenge our ideas about where and how projectors can be used.
- 'N' is for Now!
With final approval of the emerging 802.11n standard tantalizingly close, forward-looking colleges and universities are deploying wireless "n" networks. Here's what you'll need to know for your own "n" initiative.
- Put It Online
- The Argument for Open
Is open source business intelligence software ready for prime time? Our feature contributor offers BI watchers the open source ammunition they've been waiting for.
- CT Briefs
