Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Education

Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Learning, Third Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of student support both on and off campus. While online and distance learning are the world’s fastest growing areas of educational development, they have a fundamental weakness―their graduation rates, which can be lower than 20 percent. In this powerful new edition, Ormond Simpson builds on a rich history of research in distance and e-learning to show how retention rates can be improved through tested support methods, often at a net financial profit to the institutions involved.

By comparing the evidence as well as the cost-effectiveness of various support tactics, this book describes how to promote student success and encourage skill-development from a number of different perspectives: definitions and purpose, theory and psychology, ethics, costs and benefits, activities, sources, media, proactive and reactive, assessment and feedback, staff development, writing support into course materials, research, quality assurance and institutional structures. This concise, practical guide is informal and jargon-free, yet its approach to evidence is rigorous, making it invaluable reading for all those interested in recruiting and teaching diverse students for successful online and distance learning.

Ormond Simpson is currently a Fellow of the University of London Centre for Distance Education, UK. His most recent post was at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand where he was Visiting Professor. Prior to that he was Senior Lecturer in Institutional Research at the UK Open University and worked in student support. He has run workshops and seminars in South Africa, Ghana, China, the West Indies, Colombia, South Korea, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Brazil, and throughout Europe.