Why would you not!!! I have plenty of family that take online courses the reasons they do are:
1) they live in the sticks and it reaches them
2) they dont like conventional university--different population
3) They enjoy the freedom of doing when they want to do
4) they like they dont have to preform in a set standarnd set forth through out time
Many reasons are apparent which demonstrate benefits for introducing and using online courses in institutions. Firstly, in our technology-based world, providing technology experience to students can benefit their futures. The more exposure they have to the internet, the better off they will be. Secondly, post-secondary schools are becoming increasingly competitive. Having online courses in our own institution allows us to remain educationally competent. Thirdly, today’s economy demands that many of our students can’t necessarily afford to attend post-secondary schools without having either a part-time or full-time job. Online schooling provides the flexibility for our students to take classes at times which can conveniently fit in their schedules. Lastly, overcrowding is becoming a major problem for schools. Implementing online courses will alleviate this problem and free up space. Likewise, as others have already pointed out, locations of universities and institutions are not always in proximity to where our students live. Online courses can open up doors for those who live farther away from the physical school building.
The majority of our student population come from Adult Hispanic market, and they frequently are focused in create and development a new product or idea.As entrepreneurs they are looking for flexible schedule and immediate response (24/7)to their projects or business challenges.
Distance learning is very beneficial for candidates who wish to pursue their higher studies, but do not have the time to do so. These courses can be taken up by people who stay at remote places, employees, housewives etc. Depending on your specification and the course you wish to pursue, you can easily register online with a number of educational institutions.
Increase the number of students enrolled which is equivalent to more revenue for our institution.
Our institution will be more competitive offering "state-of-the-art education".
Students best prepared for the job market.
The institutions I work at already provide on-line instruction my goal is to become more educated in hopes to make the current systems better.
For us, it's simply that the students are starting to demand it. They see it as a lower cost, more convienient alternative. Many of them work full time and they need the flexability that online classes offer.
Workshops are a good way to provide professional devlopment for educators. I am interested in providing online learning for educators so that they can become proficient with technology and learn at their own pace and from home while meeting professional devlopment requirements.
We are interested in embarking on online delivery of courses to keep up with the trends in the marketplace, satisfy student demand, and hopefully increase retention.
From what I've read, the latest research reported in the Chronicle indicates that retention rates are about the same between online and traditional students. Many still use outdated information which always indicated the rate of retention was much lower for online students.
I think that online students are better informed now (as to the amount of work and internet connection speeds required) and that online courses are improving.
There is still a lot of growth potential for online medical/health care-oriented programs. Yes, some classes are hands-on, but I feel students would love to complete the general education and theory portion on-line, and maybe become set up for clinical portion near their home, if possible.
Tim, is there a higher retention rate among online students compared to traditional students?
I agree, Tammy. I have taught online classes for a few years, and there have been so many students that reside so far from the nearest campus. Also, living in the Northeast, last winter was terrible! For the most part, online classes were still in session.
I would like to become more marketable. Over the past few years, a large part of higher education has been geared towards adult learners. Online delivery definitely appeals to these types of students.
Flexibility is key. It keeps the students happy -- especially the more self-motivated ones. And of course, competitiveness. If we can say we offer not just in-person but also online courses -- and even hybrid ones -- it puts us at a competitive advantage. We offer more options to students. This is especially useful to students who have to work or have other time demands beyond school time. Everyone doesn't have to fit into the same model of what it means to be a student.
We launched a program last August. The program is growing, and is forecast to REALLY expand within the next several months. At this point, I'm looking at ideas to help scale what we already have, and new ideas as we launch new programs. This course was very helpful, thank you.
I agree. Online education is often considered as Gen Y way of studying. They are media savvy, educated population that wants to be entertained. Online education imparts instructions using a variety of mediums thereby making studies much more interesting and learning easier. In addition, quizzes and tests with instant results are much better fit for their fast-paced lives.
Our school is offering online programs because of space and the need to increase enrollment. We also want to be competitive with schools that offer similar programs and stay at the head of the pack. We also have shorter certification programs that have found a perfect audience in an online classroom, where students can come online and take a shorter program for less money. Online education has served our college in a variety of ways.
At this point, students have come to expect an online component from a reputable school. Be it for reasons of scheduling flexibility, the savings of gas money and/or the ability to simply participate from home with young children makes it attractive to many. Also, many think it's going to be much easier than a conventional class.
I think it's really important for a school to realize that they can attract some students by providing the additional option of a quality online learning option.
If done, as suggested in this course, carefully by testing the waters and getting the bugs out, a good response from the students will result, and their first impression of the school will last, reducing the possibility of complaints considerably.
So investigation of good LMS products (with your IT help) is worth the time and effort, even if curriculum by committee is patiently accepted.
