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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(ARA) – You want to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree but because of job and family obligations, your only option is an online program. You also want your degree to be respected in the marketplace, so you eliminate schools that lack proven histories or are diploma mills.
But even after limiting your search to traditional brick-and-mortar schools that are accredited by a regional Association of Colleges and Schools, you're still left with a dizzying array of choices.
What next? Ask a few more questions that you might not have considered and that some traditional universities may have trouble answering.
* Does the university publish online student success and satisfaction rates?
While protecting individual students' right of privacy, successful programs make available data that indicates how well students performed in online courses and programs, whether they persevered, and their level of satisfaction. Low grades or completion rates may indicate that students did not receive adequate support or were unable to access online resources.
Florida State University makes the course-completion rates and satisfaction of its online students available on its website, at online.fsu.edu/about. As Dr. Larry Dennis, dean of the FSU College of Information says, "We want students to make choices based on the best evidence. Making our successes and failures public also serves another good purpose -- continually reminding us to provide students with everything they need to learn well and succeed."
Completion rates in Florida State’s online courses are among the highest in education.
* Do the online courses have a small teacher-student ratio?
In a face-to-face class, you walk into the classroom and the ratio is visible. Not always so in the online class. A school that doesn’t publicize its ratio probably doesn’t want you to know.
Low ratios generally make for students who are motivated to persevere and succeed. With the job and family obligations many online students maintain, such motivation is often crucial.
“We keep our ratios low,” explains Ron Thomas of Florida State University’s Center for Teaching and Learning “by hiring mentors for our courses. As far as I know, we’re the only university with online programs set up this way.”
In addition to limiting class size, FSU has developed the mentor model to provide students in its undergraduate online courses individual attention. Mentors are experts in the course subject who serve as learning coaches for students, answering questions, moderating discussion boards, and grading assignments.
* Does the university provide comprehensive support for online students?
Support for online students should be extensive, well organized, and friendly. Help with computer or administrative problems should be responsive and easy to find.
Additionally, the school should have an office that attends specifically to online students, offer advisement from application through graduation, and make its library services available.
“The support system we have in place for our students is comprehensive,” says Carole Hayes, Student Services coordinator in the Center for Teaching and Learning at Florida State University. “A key component is our terrific staff, but the thoroughness of our website is also important since students can find, by themselves, technical guidance, learning materials, and contact information."
Florida State University offers four undergraduate and twelve graduate degrees online. To learn more about the programs, log on to http://learnonline.fsu.edu or call (850) 644-8004. Courtesy of ARA Content
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