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Institutions of higher education are increasingly using online courses and fully-online programs as tools to increase enrollment. There are many issues surrounding the subject of online education as an enrollment strategy. For instance, attrition rates are higher in online courses and online programs than in the face-to-face environment (Carr, 2000; Moody, 2004). It has been well-established that academic and social integration are key factors influencing retention, yet many institutions do not take a systematic approach to ensuring adequate integration opportunities for online students.
Faculty members, at the front-lines of the retention issue, can help to improve student success rates by providing a sense of community in the online classroom and making meaningful interaction and student engagement a priority. Functional units of student services should work collaboratively with faculty members to expand the breadth of support for online learners, with the conviction that retention is everyone’s issue, and fostering student success is everyone’s responsibility.
Faculty members must establish a rapport with each and every student from the beginning. The ongoing personal connection will not only encourage students to continue to learn, but will make them want to return to do the coursework because of the personal relationship. Students who feel as if they are alone in the online environment are far more likely to be disengaged, drop out of the course and/or leave work incomplete.
Computers are merely the tool. Human interaction is imperative no matter what the environment.
The sense of community in an online course is critical to student retention.
dropout rate greater online v on campus. Social strategies may help those online.