One of the primary assets that leads to learner success in online courses is instructor feedback. I have heard from many online learners that if they have a respondent instructor they are able to move forward faster, utilized the instructor's feedback to continue, and they feel like they are not being ignored. Several people have told me about online learning with instructors who are not responsive and they had a very difficult time and felt like they had no support. From what I understand this is the one key factor that effects retention in online courses.
