By: Dr. K. Kay Delk Mr. Benjamin J. Taylor Seminole Community College

1. Do IT and They Will Come – and Stay! Retaining Online Faculty and Students By: Dr. K. Kay Delk Mr. Benjamin J. Taylor Seminole Community College Be yourself. Only better.SM

2. Do IT and They Will Come – and Stay! Retaining Online Faculty and Students By: Dr. K. Kay Delk Mr. Benjamin J. Taylor scc-fl.edu/kdelk scc-fl.edu/it delkk@scc-fl.edu taylorb@scc-fl.edu 407-328-2181 407-328-2249

3. Format of Presentation • 15 minutes: Overview of College and Discussion of Overcoming Barriers • 15 minutes: Retaining Students in Online Instruction • 7 minutes: Questions and Answers

4. Seminole Community College • SCC is a comprehensive community college with 31,946 total unduplicated students in the 2001/02 report year. • AA and AS degrees • Certificates • Adult Education • High School • Workforce Education

5. My History in DL Courses • Three years teaching online • Dissertation in DL Administration to be completed 2003 • Courses Taught: Network Concepts, Network Plus, Microsoft Windows 2000 Networking Courses, Network Analysis & Design • Totally online instructor for past year

6. DL Instructor Profile • Teaching online requires a different set of course delivery skills. • You need to get training: • Web Page Design and Publishing • How to convert campus class to online • CMT such as Blackboard or WebCT • Must be organized and efficient – You can’t change your mind. • Take an online class.

7. Instructors Want… • SUPPORT. Research indicates that teaching online takes more time. To recruit and retain online faculty, administration must provide support and incentives • Stipend or release time to design online courses • Best equipment the college can afford • Technical support staff • Flexibility of working from home • Virtual Office Hours • Teaching at a distance when traveling

8. Administration and Legislators Want.. • Reduction in costs • Parking, classrooms, equipment • Increased enrollments • 15% of enrollments come from outside my geographical area • Students with time, health, or personal challenges enroll in online classes • Retention of students • The BIG R!

9. Institution’s Advantages • State-of-the-art education. • Competitive with other institutions. • Increased Enrollments • If you don’t make the course available online, another college will. 15% of my enrolled students are from outside SCC’s geographical area. • More Dollars for institution

10. Barriers to Developing Distance Learning Courses • Lack of Faculty Time to Develop Courses • Limited Incentives for Faculty to Develop Courses • Required Technological Skill Development for Faculty • Resistance from Faculty for Philosophical Reasons • Lack of Institutional Support

11. Lack of Faculty Time to Develop Courses • Faculty Release Times (Reduced Course Loads) • Publisher Developed Course Modules • Consortium Approach – Shared Course Development

12. Limited Incentives for Faculty to Develop Courses • Stipends and/or Release Times • SPD (Staff Professional Development) Funds • Funds Included in Grant Proposals • More Flexible Virtual Office Hours for DL Instructors

13. Required Technological Skill Development for Faculty • On-sight WebCT Training • Distributed Mentorship Model • Staff Development Funds for Conferences and Training

14. Resistance from Faculty for Philosophical Reasons • Faculty Education and Training • Mixed-mode and/or Enhanced Courses • Inter-College Relationships • Gentle Pressure

15. Lack of Institutional Support • Education of Administration – Institutional Advantages • Funding Included in Grant Proposals • Distributed Administrative Model • Support of President and VPs

16. Dr. Delk’s History in DL Courses • Six years teaching online! • Dissertation in DL completed in 1996 • Courses Taught: Lotus, every version of MS Office, Computer Concepts, Internet, and Explorer • Totally online instructor for past 2.5 years

17. Retention, Retention, Retention! • Studies by individual institutions suggest that course-completion and program-retention rates are generally lower in distance-education courses than in their face-to-face counterparts. • Retention is a BIG Problem, especially with vendor courses. You cannot purchase a vendor course, put it on the web, and just expect students to learn. • In Florida part of our funding comes from course completers

18. Communication, Communication, Communication: the 3Cs • Must be Clear • Must be Consistent • Must be Continual

19. Blackboard and WebCT Provide Necessary Communication Tools • Student Bulletin Board • Student E-mail • Chat Room • Testing Online • Student Tracking • Grade program • Available from any computer any time

20. Communicate BEFORE Class Starts • Post course welcome letter, syllabus, and schedule when students start registering. • Provide links to College DL site. • They know what is expected of them. • Posting helps market the course.

21. Course Must Be Easy to Navigate • Organize content • Course Materials • Publisher Content • Lecture Notes • Assignments • Communication Tools

22. Students Must Learn WebCT and Become Familiar With the Site • Two-hours reviewing site is an assignment for first week of class • FAQ page • Must pass an introductory quiz

23. Student Introductory Activities Help them “Meet” others by: • Introductions on Board • E-mail assignment • Home page within Course Management Software • Virtual students encourage, support and motivate each other. • They feel more comfortable about asking questions online.

24. Key – Student-Student Interaction • Probably more important than Instructor-Student Interaction • Learning is a human experience – do EVERYTHING to facilitate collaboration and interaction • Participation Points

25. If You Do it, They Will Stay. • Communicate often. Be online every day and TELL them if you will be at a conference or not answering e-mail for a specific period • Create assignments that will encourage student to student interaction and give POINTS for participation • Be efficient – answer questions and grade projects in a timely fashion. • Create fun assignments and have them share with the class: Travel Project / Investment Project • Provide practice quizzes and a time frame to take exams • Have fun and your students will have fun.

26. Questions and Answers • Thank you for attending. Please contact us for further Q&A.