Plan, prepare and connect: How investing in understanding and tracking the evolving needs of online students informs the development of targeted programs for transition and success

Abstract

Growth in online higher education offerings has been significant in recent years, with many Australian Universities launching programs to extend into new markets and meet the student demand for greater flexibility in delivery modes. Further, it is well understood that good support is an essential component to student success, satisfaction and retention. Despite this, orientation, including non-academic support, is often overlooked in online education systems. Therefore, the current study aimed to develop an orientation program to increase student preparedness and facilitate ongoing support, in addition to developing evidence-based best-practice strategies to support academic’s when developing new online courses.

Out of sight, but not out of mind: a case study of the collaborative development of a university-wide orientation resource for online students

“…Additionally, student testimonials from current Monash online students discuss what they enjoy most, what they find most challenging, and their top tip for new online students. This section is vital in an orientation site for online students (Cho, 2012 ; Horvath et al, 2019 ; Taylor et al, 2015 ) 4 Study effectively This next section invites students to explore and further develop skills for studying, researching and writing in their online course. Links are provided to Library pages with practical tutorials on transferrable topics such as critical thinking, brainstorming and mind-mapping, referencing and more.…”

“…Links are provided to Library pages with practical tutorials on transferrable topics such as critical thinking, brainstorming and mind-mapping, referencing and more. This section also aims to help students understand their assignment tasks better, develop search strategies and use the Library databases effectively as well as the art of academic and research writing (Muping et al, 2006 ; Raish, & Behler, 2019 ) 5 Stay well & connected One of the larger sections of the MOLH and primarily non-academic focused, this section explores becoming and staying physically and mentally healthy, challenges that students can face that impact on both academic and non-academic wellbeing (Johnson, 2015 ; Khiat, 2015 ), as well as being connected (Horvath et al, 2019 ; Roddy et al, 2017 ) and staying safe online. The first topic introduces students to the practice and benefits of Mindfulness and proceeds to provide a suite of tailor made mindfulness activities for students to help with study, work and life.…”

“…Lastly, this section addresses a unique challenge to online study—feelings of belonging in a student community, student support and advocacy 6 Graduation & beyond The final section of MOLH celebrates graduation and student alumni. This section provides links to assist students who are nearing completion, as well as forward planners and includes information on graduation, alumni, career planning, career connect and a range of online workshops to help with career planning (Eaton et al, 2018 ; Horvath et al, 2019 ) …”

“…Members included senior members of the University, such as the Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic), academic faculty such as online educators and course leaders/coordinators, educational and learning designers, online teaching and learning innovation specialists, and library staff. Like other similar initiatives (Cho, 2012 ; Horvath et al, 2019 ; Taylor et al, 2015 ), the collaborative nature of the development of the MOLH provided an opportunity to create a more cohesive, integrated, complete and connected product, by a diverse team who is 'in touch' with the students and their needs that the resource is addressing. Access to the CoP, however, meant that the collaboration expanded beyond the project working group from the outset, and met further University needs in the area of engagement and community building (Rose et al, 2020 ).…”

“…More recently, Horvath et al ( 2019 ) from a local university in Australia developed an orientation program across two phases, aiming to increase student preparedness for online study, feelings of belonging and a sense of community, as well as to facilitate ongoing support—topics which are often overlooked in online education (Horvath et al, 2019 ; Roddy et al, 2017 ). The development process for the program initially involved a review of current student barriers and drivers to online learning success (also discussed later in this paper).…”