Lessons from afar: Concerns of Distance Students — Miller, Preston, Elbert, Lindner; DEC 2003 — Online distance learning courses have student retention and completion rates 10 to 20 percent lower than traditional courses (Carr, 2000) despite the fact that research has shown that online learning is as effective as face-to-face learning. How can you, as an instructor, help your students feel connected, motivated, and successful? Two online students discuss the importance of student support, communication and presentation.

The Promise of Online Simulations — Bjorn Billhardt, Chief Learning Officer — Online simulations have the potential to add enormous value to corporate training environments. Simulations are fun and engaging and allow learners to internalize knowledge by applying new skills in a risk-free environment. This can dramatically increase motivation and retention rates—and provide a high return on training investments. Despite their potential—and predictions of their dramatic rise—online simulations are used infrequently by corporate training departments. While many CLOs support the idea in principle, most have not integrated simulations into their corporate training offerings.

Extending Virtual Access: Promoting Engagement and Retention through Integrated Support Systems — Holly McCracken, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration — This article focuses upon expanding the scope of online instructional delivery to include academic support systems critical to ensuring that virtual learning environments are inclusive, accessible, instructive, and responsive to changing student needs. Using examples from the University of Illinois at Springfield's experience of online program expansion in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, this paper examines: benefits of and barriers to integrating extended programming; specific approaches that facilitate virtual support and outreach; and strategies to promote continuous student support for distant students.

You can always see the latest items, and find many more articles posted seven days a week at the Online Learning Update blog. Until next time, I’ll see you online! ~ray