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How to get students to show up and learn

By Lisa Neal / July 2002

TYPE: OPINION
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No one has exact numbers, but there is a general agreement that attrition is higher in online courses than in classroom-delivered courses. High drop-out rates have been attributed to the demographics of online students, the inexperience of online faculty, poorly designed e-learning technologies, flawed course design, and low bandwidth. Whatever the root cause, I believe the problem can be largely solved through accountability. But how can student accountability be achieved?

In my own online teaching, mostly blended courses for corporate training, I ask my students to let me know in advance if they will miss a synchronous session. They always tell me and always have good reasons—it's hard, under the circumstances, to use a trivial one. I greet each student at the beginning of class and often call on a student to lead a discussion or summarize a reading assignment. I occasionally call on people during class if I haven't heard from them or think they might have insights on a topic. This adds accountability—for the students to show up, be prepared, stay focused, and participate.

My goal is for my students to learn, but to accomplish that I need to get them to class, get them to do their assignments, and keep them from playing solitaire or reading their email during class. I try to create an environment that fosters personal responsibility. While I prefer that this happen because a discussion is fascinating, I'm willing to have them become more attentive because they don't want to be called on when unprepared or distracted.

When one is young, success in school is largely based on showing up and displaying appropriate behavior. As one gets older, there's more intrinsic motivation arising from the desire to learn or the need for professional achievement. But even an intrinsically motivated student has to squeeze an online class into a busy day. That's why accountability is so important.

The last time I was required to take an online course, I took it on a Saturday, the last day I could complete it without being labeled a "no-show." Since I prefer to be recognized for my accomplishments rather than for my oversights, this motivated me to finally take the class, after over two weeks of trying to fit it in every day. Is that accountability? Yes. Did it motivate me? Yes. But my focus was on passing the test, not understanding and mastering the material.

A teacher who creates an accountability-focused learning environment can show students how the content of a course is relevant and useful, and therefore worthy of attendance and attention. One should build enthusiasm and provide context for students so they understand how to apply what they are learning. This should be the goal in any teaching environment, but it's harder to achieve online—as high drop-out rates reveal. But that's the sort of challenge that makes teaching worthwhile.



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ADDITIONAL READING

    Lisa Neal
  1. Is it live or is it Memorex?
  2. The Value of Voice
  3. Predictions for 2006
  4. Five Questions...for Christopher Dede
  5. Five Questions... for John Seely Brown
  6. Five questions...for Shigeru Miyagawi
  7. "Deep" thoughts
  8. 5 questions... for Richard E. Mayer
  9. Designing usable, self-paced e-learning courses
  10. Want better courses?
  11. Just "DO IT"
  12. Five questions...
  13. Formative evaluation
  14. Senior service
  15. Blogging to learn and learning to blog
  16. My life as a Wikipedian
  17. Five questions...for Elliott Masie
  18. The stripper and the bogus online degree
  19. Five questions...for Lynn Johnston
  20. Five questions...for Tom Carey
  21. Not all the world's a stage
  22. Five questions...for Karl M. Kapp
  23. Five questions...for Larry Prusack
  24. Five questions...for Seb Schmoller
  25. Do distance and location matter in e-learning?
  26. Why do our K-12 schools remain technology-free?
  27. Music lessons
  28. Learn to apologize for fun and profit
  29. Of web hits and Britney Spears
  30. Advertising or education?
  31. Five questions…for Matt DuPlessie
  32. Back to the future
  33. Serious games for serious topics
  34. Five (or six) questions...for Irene McAra-McWilliam
  35. Learner on the Orient Express
  36. Talk to me
  37. Q&A with Diana Laurillard
  38. Do it yourself
  39. Degrees by mail
  40. Predictions for 2004
  41. "Spot Learning"
  42. Q&A with Saul Carliner
  43. When will e-learning reach a tipping point?
  44. Online learning and fun
  45. In search of simplicity
  46. eLearning and fun
  47. Everything in moderation
  48. The basics of e-learning
  49. Predictions For 2003
  50. Q&A
  51. Blended conferences
  52. Predictions for 2002
  53. Learning from e-learning
  54. Storytelling at a distance
  55. Q&A with Don Norman