Nine Effective Practices for Student Success Online – Bb Day 2

Nine Effective Practices for Student Success Online – Bb Day 2

• Lone Star College System – fastest growing CC system in TX – over 69,000 students, 27% online, 20% of online are fully online; services include online advising,  early alert, case management, Starfish
• Capella – totally online – AQIP – 39,000 – most female, urban, students of color, average age 39, integrated support for learners
• SAS Curriculum Pathways – statistical software- free digital content for K12

Effective practices based on surveys/focus groups

1. Engage prospective students throughout the enrollment process.
2. Allow students advance access to the online classroom.
3. Make sure online students have complete access to library and bookstore resources.
4. Offer guidance counselors and mentors targeted to online learners.
5. Quickly communicate and resolve technology issues.
6. Ensure office hours are flexible and transparent.
7. Use technology to quickly identify students at risk for dropping out.
8. Extend services beyond course or program completion.
9. Ensure a seamless financial aid process.

Follow-up ideas:

• Discuss findings with John Cowles and counseling – how are we implementing these practices at GRCC? What more can we learn from Starfish? What professional development or information resources do we/might we provide for faculty members?
• Review new online Bb support from library with Nan S – how can we work more effectively with our library partners?
• How do admissions and financial aid use Bb to interact with students? Talk with Diane Patrick.
• Discuss with Business/other depts. with multiple online students  – how can we advise our students who do not attend classes on campus?

Bb Corporate Keynote – Bb World Day 2

Bb Corporate Keynote – Bb World Day 2

More Britney Spears before session – Bb World sometimes feels more like a club than a conference!  Lots of new partnerships and products announced. Bb to be acquired by Providence, a private equity firm focused on the education industry.

Intro by Bb CEO/President Michael, including a video reference to The Hangover, complete with lost colleague,  live rooster, and Bb tattoo…

What is the relationship between learning content and learning management?

• digital text:  CafeScribe (Follett), nookstudy (Barnes & Noble), CourseSmart (joint effort)
• digital courses:
  • McGraw Hill connect and create
  • Pearson Mastering and MyMathLab
  • Cengage CourseMate, MindMap (Personalized Learning Experience), Applia
  • Wiley Wiley Plus
  • Macmillan CompClass and Psych Portal

New products help assess impact of business decisions on learning outcomes:

• Bb Analytics for Learn (session this p.m.) – useful for institutional assessment
• Enterprise survey for everyone – SP for 9.1 to be shipped

Four fundamentals/Report Card:

• Support – 60% improvement in 1-day resolution of customer support tickets
• Transparency – Product Road Map, more info, published known issues, redesign of published info, updates and building blocks available
• Openness – commitments to shipping software
• Quality – 2x improvement in bug fixes, Bug Squad Extermination with Determination, program cohort process, Quality Matters +Bb new partnership (Bb staff to be certified)

What’s new:

• Personalized learning experience
• Customized course environment
• Focus on content
  • Student: stream for whole institution, see classmates and instructors on line, trends, messages, calendar
  • Instructor: course wizard for pedagogical styles with examples, class dates (updates all dates), standards for all content items, WYSIWYG editor fixed problems with cut & paste from Word, publisher content, tag Twitter feed to class tag.

Bb Mobile updates:

• Search function for classes/orgs, Favorites
• Discussion tool now threaded as on Learn, can post attachments
• Mobile Central allows institutions to create branded apps – discussion re: modules for Bb app is losing me – may need to get a smart phone next time around…

Follow-up ideas:

• How can we use QM standards for our own online courses? For our on ground courses? How to make quality design an ongoing discussion for all faculty? Discuss with Meegan.
• Encourage as many faculty members as possible to participate in pilot test for tools and service packs – including new/less experienced Bb users.