Online Education Survey Student Survey

I am constantly talking to school administrators about online education. I would like to present to them what type of distance education programs the technologically astute students would like.

To do so, I have created a survey that I would like you to complete. The purpose of this survey is to help identify students' perceptions of online education programs and the types of distance education you would like to take.

Online education can be provided in a variety of formats. For the purpose of this survey, I have defined these formats as:

a. Broadcast Synchronous – Instructors broadcast live lessons. Students at remote locations can interact with the instructor.

b. Broadcast Asynchronous – Instructors broadcast live or recorded lessons. Students at remote locations do not have the ability to interact with the instructor during the broadcast.

c. Self-Paced – Content is presented in a slide format. After a set of slides, the student is required to respond to questions. The pace of the instruction is controlled by the student.

d. Discussion Group – Students are assigned to research a topic and present findings and ideas using discussion boards/blogs and emails.

e. Remote Independent Study – Off-campus students correspond with faculty members using email and a log.

f. Blended/Hybrid – Combination of traditional classroom setting and one of the above formats.

Thanks for your input. Please ask your friends to complete the survey.

Take our Online Survey

Keeping Online Classes Interesting and Students Motivated

To start with, I would like to thank everyone that has posted comments. I realize that it is the end of the semester and you have finals, papers and projects due. I truly appreciate you input.

Reading your comments, if found a tread that I would like hear more of your opinions. While everyone has been supported of quality online classes, it has raised a question How do you keep online classes interesting and students motivated?

SINGINFIFI stated:
“All of the online classes I've ever taken (all for my psych degree, biology didn't offer any) have been the same model: Read a section, post a discussion topic for the class to read, write a paper, get a grade. This isn't nearly as productive as "read a section, show up to class and discuss it". Is this to say that in the future virtual classrooms with interaction couldn't be an effective way for students and teachers to "meet"? Absolutely not. "Face to face" interaction can mean many things, especially with the type of technology we have available.”

AA stated:

“The one hard thing about online classes that I think most would agree on is that you have to maintain a good amount of motivation.”

I know my three daughters and son-in-law do not need any additional motivation to communicate using electronic based technology. For example, over Thanksgiving, having a wonderful time, altogether for the first time in a year, we were all texting and emailing as we enjoyed our time together. Now I use to think that this was a negative behavior, but I have come to realize that it allows us to stay in contact with friends, even when they are miles away. As we all communicated with friends and relatives, we shared their wishes of holiday cheer with those with physically with us.

QUESTION
What do you see as a way to keep students motivated and interested for online classes?

Could this include?

• Shorter but more frequent posting
• Live, interactive online sessions
• Polls and surveys
• Student initiated discussions
• Texting
• Twitter

What Would You Tell a College Administrator When They Say … “Online Classes Are Poor Quality?”

I often meet with college administrators to discuss either implementing or expanding online class offerings. One of the major issues is how to ensure the quality of the online classes. This is a very real and legitimate concern. Schools live and die by their reputation. The schools that I work with do not want to be seen as a correspondence school, where you send in money and they send you a degree. Nor do they want to be seen as a diploma mill.

I agree with their concerns and so do my three daughters, Alexis, Ashleigh and Blayze and my son-in-law, Robbie. I can tell they care about quality because of their choice of schools. Each picked schools based upon their reputation and how a degree from the school would help them along their career path. They did not want to spend thousands of dollars (or hundreds of thousands for Alexis’ JD/MBA, Ashleigh’s MSW and Robbie’s Ph.D.) to have a degree from a diploma mill. (Blayze’s bill is not that high yet, but she is only a freshman at a state school – thank you, Florida Prepaid and Bright Futures)

It not only hurts the school’s reputation, it hurts students’ reputations for their school to be considered a diploma mill . I know when I hire people, I always look at the schools they chose to attend. If I feel the school is a diploma mill, it raises questions of their judgment. How did they spend their time and money? How did they wish to be perceived? There is usually some explaining to do.

When I talk to a school administrator regarding the quality of online classes, I like to start the discussion by looking at their traditional classes. How do they ensure the quality of these classes? Can we build upon this same process for online class offerings?

If you had the chance to talk to a school’s chairman, dean, provost, vice president or president, what would they say about the quality of online classes?

Nyles
www.socrategy.com

Everything I Learned About Today's Educational Technology I Learned From My Three Daughters and One Son-In-Law

Everything I learned about using the technology that students want in education I learned from my three daughters and one son-in-law.

I work with several colleges and universities designing online education programs. I discuss with my kids what they like and dislike about online classes, what technology they would like to see for these classes and if their schools are using this technology.

Although I have my doctorate in Educational Technology, Media and Instructional Systems from Teachers College, Columbia University you might think that I know all about technology from my schooling. Not True. When I went to school, I used technology such as film projectors, television and slide tape presentations. Since then, I have managed to learn about some new technologies, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Blackboard, the Internet, email and PDAs. But even this does not seem very current. My daughters have tried to get me up-to-date with iPods, iPhones, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, texting and eBooks.

My daughters have gone to some outstanding schools. Blayze currently attends Florida State University, Alexis graduated from University of Central Florida and Fordham Law School with a JD/MBA, and Ashleigh graduated from Rollins College and is currently working on her MSW at Rutgers University. Ashleigh’s husband, Robbie, graduated from Pittsburg State University, earned a masters degree from NYU and is working on his Ph.D. in psychology at Seton Hall University. My kids and their friends have been my closest connection to how students relate to technology in school, but now I need a much broader population of students with suggestions and ideas.

I would like to expand this discussion. Please post what comments regarding:

What you like or dislike about online classes?
What technologies are used in your school?
What changes would you like see in your school’s online class offerings?

Nyles
www.socrategy.com