Self Paced vs Set Schedule Online Courses
In the past, self paced credit baring online classes have
shown a decided pattern of low retention. http://ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/8.2.5.pdf http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/blog/2012/04/24/increasing-student-retention-in-online-courses/
Yet, with the emergence of the Khan Academy and MOOC courses
the issue has arisen again about self paced online courses. U of Wisconsin has
plans to offer a complete degree online.http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/Default.aspx?Page=8657930e-a3ed-49a1-92f4-2b6b4dbb0838
Can online courses without discussions and community forming
among learners succeed?
Proponents point to business training courses, which are
usually self paced. They succeed because they are narrowly focused on learning
a program or a set of rules, and are required for employment. Online courses
that follow this model – short term, skill based, may succeed if self paced.
One example I can think of is the student who had Algebra in high school and
received a passing grade but returns later to college and cannot pass a Basic
Skills test. Teachers who teach these students tell me that after a few weeks
it “all comes back” and students can proceed on their own. In cases like this
it seems worthwhile to let students proceed at their own pace.
However, in the traditional class, in the major and
electives, a learning community helps student retention. That means students
must participate in discussions and that cannot happen unless students have a
definite time frame: Post a response to a discussion question by a certain date
and respond by a later date.
When I first started teaching online classes I thought I had
the answer to the dilemma. I told students in the beginning of the class that,
although there were deadlines, they could go on three “tracks.” For example, in
the Fall term, they could complete all assignments by the first week in
December and I would enter their grade then. Most students would stay in the
traditional schedule and complete work by the last week in December end date.
However, a student could elect to go on the “extended” track and have until the
end of January to complete the work. All discussions had to be on time, and the
last discussion ended at the end of November, but all other work had three
deadlines: early, traditional and extended. The worked for a while but then
became a logistical mess, with financial aid students required to be on the
traditional track, and students needing a grade for their transcript forced to
avoid the extended track. I had to monitor students who were on the extended
track after the course “officially” ended and enter an override grade. After a
few years I reverted to one track.
Do I think that self paced courses will work? Maybe, for the
very dedicated, mature students, who have a definite goal in mind. For the
traditional college aged student, taking course toward a degree, I have my
doubts.
