Tracia Forman and Jessica Sanchez, UTRGV
Presentation given at the Texas Digital Learning Annual Association Conference 2022, Galveston, TX
Increased online enrollment has results in the use of supplementary instructional support to enhance effective course delivery. Use of an instructional team approach plays an invaluable role in student success.
UTRGV-TxDLA-Presentation-3.23.22[78]
Academic Coaches and Student Success in Higher Education.
Published in the Journal for Distance Education. May 31, 2023.
(2023) Academic Coaches and Student Success in Higher Education, American Journal of Distance Education, DOI: 10.1080/08923647.2023.2210491
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08923647.2023.2210491
According to the AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing), nursing is among the occupations experiencing the most job growth in the U.S, yet it is still predicted that there will be a shortage of registered nurses.
One of the ways this can be addressed is through online academic coaching specific to nursing programs!
An online academic coach understands the needs of colleges or universities and their students. They are highly qualified and experienced professionals. In addition, they have experience with online learning and know-how to enhance student success in distance learning and online programs.
Currently, one of the ways a nurse can gain experience and knowledge is through mentorship. A mentorship is when a more experienced nurse mentors another and acts as a teacher or supervisor to help the less experienced nurse achieve their goals.
Coaching seems similar, however, our online academic coaching model takes a more facilitative approach and promotes autonomy within students while they are in online courses for their degree.
A study was done on a coaching training course that was delivered to 148 healthcare professionals. Evaluations from the attendees suggested that coaching would create more learning opportunities and prompt students to become independent learners – two things that are greatly needed for online education and distance learning.
It is projected that there will be more registered nurse jobs available than any other job in the U.S. by 2022. Despite the rapidly growing number of registered nurses, there is a nursing shortage due to the aging population, the chronic conditions that come with age, and high turnover rates.
Advancements in medical science and quality of life have helped Americans live longer. However, this does not mean that they are healthier during old age. The baby boomer generation is entering old age, meaning they will need more health services as they age. And older persons are typically diagnosed with more than one comorbidity.
The workforce is also aging, and a third could be at retirement age in the next decade or so. This includes nurse faculty, meaning fewer nurses will train new ones, leading to enrollment limitations and fewer nurses generated by schools.
The difficulty of the profession also contributes to turnovers. Nurses work in an inherently stressful environment compounded by the threat of physical and emotional hurdles.
An inadequate number of nurses will have a negative impact on patient care. It will lead to more uneven patient-to-nurse ratios, more fatigue and stress for nurses, higher chances of medication errors, lower patient care quality, and higher patient mortality rates.
One study looks into how the shortage of nursing faculty and the increase of students is being addressed by using academic coaches in online programs.
Online academic coaches would be able to help nursing schools by providing the needed manpower for assisting students. They work to be assets for both the faculty and the students by managing discussion threads, assisting with grading, and various other tasks. This frees up nurse faculty to focus on engagement and teaching.
More and more people are finally taking notice of online learning’s many benefits, with some finally accepting that many students perform better in this learning environment. However, there’s no denying how hard the shift to online learning is for some students and teachers.
This is an excellent opportunity for virtual teaching assistants to showcase how much their profession can contribute to this new way of learning in university and college courses.
But what exactly is a virtual teaching assistant’s role in online learning? This article discusses some of the essential roles virtual teaching assistants play in the online learning environment.
Online documentations have become a crucial part of online teaching. Whether that’s reports, assessments, records, and learning materials, all of these have moved into the digital space. Despite the shift to digital copies, these documents are still just as important as ever.
For virtual teaching assistants, one of their roles is to familiarize themselves with all the different types of digital files needed for their online learning course. These could be documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or PDF files.
One of the first possible casualties of online learning is student-to-student interaction. During an online course, most students are limited to interacting with the teacher only. Meanwhile, the teacher may be preoccupied with creating and delivering lessons.
Virtual teaching assistants are in the perfect position to lessen the teacher’s tasks and foster student discussion and interaction. Teaching assistants may help the teacher conduct student-to-student dialogue during the course.
Teaching assistants may help the teacher provide instructions for when, where, and how students can participate in virtual discussions.
It could be done by dedicating time from lesson delivery to activities like group discussions or turning a classroom session into an open forum. These activities may prove too much for teachers; teaching assistants can help in these activities.
Communication is an integral part of classroom education, even more so in the digital space. Students may have questions, clarifications, and feedback, but these can often be neglected due to a teacher’s hectic schedule.
Virtual teaching assistants can help maintain student-teacher communication by acting as the person in the middle. Teaching assistants can answer students’ questions, take note of feedback, report at-risk students or other issues for the teacher to address.
Teaching assistants can also monitor online class forums and message boards for any messages or posts. They can be the go-to person for students requiring clarification regarding projects and activities, which frees the teacher from extra tasks while providing students with someone they can reach out to.
Virtual teaching assistants are essential in modern education, especially since the world is quickly becoming digital. It’s more important than ever for teachers and educational institutions to invest in the many benefits teaching assistants can provide
Education technology has experienced steady growth and adoption even before the pandemic, with edtech investments reaching $18.66 billion in 2019. However, the COVID-19 crisis has affected around 1.6 billion students, most of whom migrated to online platforms to continue their education.
More than a year into the pandemic, online learning has seen enormous changes. And despite the crisis slowly receding, experts believe online education will continue to grow.
Here are five major online education trends that will shape the learning landscape globally.
Nano-learning is a learning modality where the student receives condensed, bite-sized information across a shorter time frame. It provides learners with quick and entertaining content that holds on to their notoriously shortening attention span.
Examples of nano-learning include short soundbites or one-minute videos seen on platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
Researchers argue that nano-learning is effective because it follows the Pareto principle: 80% of learning outcomes result from applying 20% of effort learning. In addition, nano-learning supports different learning styles, including visual and auditory learning.
Massive open online classes or MOOCs saw exponential growth during the pandemic. Coursera, for instance, recorded 640% more enrollments from mid-March to mid-April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, Udemy also recorded a 400% enrollment surge between February and March.
MOOCs continue to gain traction among employees, who use online learning platforms to earn micro-credentials and nano-degrees — both qualifications that demonstrate mastery in specialized skills.
MOOCs are a powerful tool for professional advancement that brand giants like Amazon and Google partner with Udacity, a popular MOOC provider, to give their employees an avenue to earn marketable skills.
Gamification is a strong contender in the future of online education. It’s the use of game-based elements like point scoring and competition to improve learning outcomes. And it has been enjoying steady growth. In 2015, the gamification industry was valued at $2 billion, but experts predict that that figure will increase to $11.42 billion by the end of 2021.
The factor that makes gamification effective is that it increases engagement. In a 2018 survey, 89% of participants said that if their task is gamified, they feel motivated to complete it. In fact, it gets them into a competitive mood!
Students also perform better when learning is gamified. A 2020 study showed that challenge-based gamification enhanced student performance by up to 89.45% compared to only attending lectures.
Open Educational Resources or OERs are learning and research materials stored in the public domain or released under an open license. These can be used and distributed by learners at no cost and with no or limited restrictions.
More and more higher education instructors are aware of OERs. And faculty awareness of OER increased by 5 percentage points from 2019 to 2020. These faculty also expressed a stronger belief in the quality of OERs.
With students paying an average of $1240 on books and supplies every year, OERs are expected to be an enduring online learning trend in higher education distance learning courses. And because OERs are free, students don’t have to deal with the effects of high textbook costs, like taking fewer courses or getting lower grades due to working more hours.
eLearning Industries predict that over 47% of learning management tools will be enriched with AI capabilities within the next three years. AI, after all, delivers a significant impact on online education.
The advancement of technology and the internet freed education from the confines of a physical classroom. Today, students from every level have access to quality education whenever and wherever they want.
When the COVID-19 outbreak closed down schools and affected over 1.2 billion students worldwide, online learning became more than just an option. It became a central factor in people’s lives.
As the world gradually recovers from the pandemic and universities start opening, will online learning remain the future of higher education? This article will provide several good reasons online education will still matter in the future.
Online learning courses are designed to adapt to a student’s schedule. It allows learners to pursue their desired course or subject at their preferred time and pace. Traditional classroom learning does not always offer this kind of convenience and flexibility.
More importantly, online education offers accessibility. It enables students to study from anywhere in the world. The virtual classroom is always available if there’s an internet connection.
Due to the pandemic, the Massive Open Online Course Market (MOOC), which includes many online learning platforms, is expected to grow by $16 billion from 2021 to 2025. This is likely due to the popularity of convenient modes of online learning like live streaming, video-on-demand, and webinars.
Regardless of what modes are chosen by students, the convenience, flexibility, and accessibility that online learning provides will make it even more popular in the coming years.
For online learning institutions, web-based learning enables more students to enroll in their courses. Classes that are dependent on pre-recorded videos and assessments can have an unlimited number of students enrolled.
Studies show that retention rates are higher in online learning than in traditional classroom courses. The Boston Consulting Group, in partnership with Arizona State University, found that students who take more online classes tend to graduate sooner.
This is likely due to the decrease in pressures that are usually present in traditional school systems. One of the primary benefits of online learning is that it allows students to learn at their own pace.
Many online courses have learning materials available anytime, giving students the chance to rewatch lectures and review materials. Supplemental reading recommendations, study guides, and other learning materials are also provided to help keep students engaged.
The average cost of college for one student in the United States is around $35,720 per year. It doesn’t always include accommodation, textbooks, equipment, transportation, and other expenses.
Online learning is usually priced lower than most traditional university courses. According to a story by U.S. News and World Report, an online college program (in-state) can cost $11,040 to $20,956.
Many online courses offer a wide range of payment options that let students pay in installments or for each class. It allows for better budget management. Students can also save money from the commute and other expenses stated above.
When it comes to learning online, the monetary investment can be significantly less—which means that more students will potentially have access to a college education.
There’s no denying that online learning is the future of higher education. While it may not completely replace traditional classroom learning, it remains a beneficial option to those who prefer to study online.
Instructional Connections (IC) is a leading provider of high-quality instructional support services for colleges and universities.
Instructional Connections built a model of flexibility and customization by providing support for the online course and curriculum needs of our University partners through the use of our online teaching assistants.
Our online teaching assistants give your faculty more time to focus on student success! Through our innovative model, we are able to provide the highest flexibility for your faculty, as our online teaching assistants perform varied duties depending on your distance course needs.
But our high levels of customization often lead to questions about our services, such as what an online teaching assistant can do, what their duties are, how they can help transform an online course, and how our online teaching assistants can best help remote learning environments and student success.
Additional responsibilities include any course issues as defined by your faculty or any needs that relate to online and distance learning. Our online teaching assistants are flexible – so your faculty member simply needs to provide us with instructions on their needs and expectations for the course, and our online teaching assistants deliver.
Under the leadership and direction of your faculty, our online teaching assistants may assist with grading, management of discussion threads, approved announcements, and day-to-day tasks. Additional responsibilities may include course issues related to distance learning, as well.
Plus, each of our online teaching assistants is a highly qualified, experienced professional in the appropriate academic discipline. Each and every one has earned at least a Master’s degree. Each teaching assistant also, has 14 years of industry experience in their field of instruction.
This means our online teaching assistants possess the academic credentials and the experience to become an immediate asset to your faculty and students.
Instructional Connections began in 2010 with the sole goal of facilitating better instructional support services for online courses of Universities and Colleges through our online teaching assistants or academic coaches.
No other North American company works how Instructional Connections does – even before Covid-19 and the shift to online education and distance learning. While many online support companies are solutions looking for a problem, we build our services around the missions of Colleges and Universities and provide support exactly where it is needed.
Our online teaching assistants and services are flexible enough to match each College and University we work with. Our partner Colleges and Universities are often asking for additional ways we can support them and expand our services! This means we aren’t a cookie-cutter option, but we see a need or gap and curate a specific and custom solution for each of our partners’ situations.
[H2] Our Partner Universities & Colleges
[H2] How Our Online Teaching Assistant Model Works
Our first step is always the same – to understand what each College or University needs relative to their online instructional support and programs. We strive to understand the missions that each school desires through in-depth meetings and close communication.
We recruit, screen, pre-qualify, and present online teaching assistant candidates that have been vetted and have extensive experience in the desired field, depending on the specific program and course. All of our online teaching assistants have a minimum of a Master’s or greater in their field.
We assign university approved online teaching assistants and other support staff to your courses and programs. This is based on University, College, or even course-specific needs for your distance learning service needs.
We understand the hurdles and benefits of online programs and distance learning, which is why we work hard to help you manage your distance learning courses for optimal student success by training all candidates on learning management systems used by your University. This ensures they are oriented for courses and your specific distance learning programs.
4. We Organize Your Online Teaching Assistants
We independently contract, manage, and pay the online teaching assistants supporting your courses. We handle all organizations of staffing provided to fulfill the service needs on behalf of university partners. This eliminates universities from adding additional human resources and payroll overhead.
To ensure accountability, we have supportive leadership staff who work directly with your University’s administration and faculty. This ensures that the faculty member’s expectations, rubric, and goals are fully met.
In addition, we provide continual support to each distance learning course where our online teaching assistants are requested and used. From start to finish – we are there throughout the semester for our university partners.
We strive to meet expectations through our services and our online teaching assistants. Contact Instructional Connections for More Information on Our Online Teaching Assistants!
Online education seems here to stay, at least in some capacity, especially for higher education as schedules are busy and culture changes. And though there are large benefits to online education and distance learning, it can be a difficult transition for many teachers.
Often administration thinks that in-person classes take more planning than online ones, but this isn’t true. Typically, in a virtual classroom, class time is short, and students expect to learn as much as they can in that given period, and as activities may be quicker and less frequent – that time needs to be filled and utilized to the fullest.
This is an important reason why it’s essential to plan your lessons beforehand and in a detailed manner to make sure you are providing a high level of learning and value to students.
This is the second biggest tip, just barely behind planning: make sure you understand the technology you will be using. And this doesn’t just mean Zoom or the University’s platform, this means all of the media and technology you plan to use in class. From quizzes to breakout rooms, videos to interactive setups, or even games, this is paramount.
If you do not where begin, here are some things to familiarize yourself with:
Regardless of being in a virtual classroom, your environment still sets the stage for your course. Make sure you are setting a good example by having an academic virtual background or a tidy physical backdrop. Also, be consistent if your background is not virtual – or do not have the room change between your office and kitchen, living room, or outdoors.
If possible, your classroom area should be intended for work only – not a kitchen counter or couch. You want the space to be tidy, educational, and engaging while still looking productive.
Teaching online is different, but some principles are the same, like facilitating discussion and communicating with your students.
Discussion is how many students learn best, either by teaching their peers or asking questions of them, even having breakout groups where each section may discuss a different topic before coming together and sharing with the group in their own words and with their own understanding. It’s important to start these discussions so they can be comfortable and acquainted with you and the class, but then allow the group to speak more than you while you still guide the timelines and subjects.
Communication is needed in all classroom styles, virtual or in-person, in order to ensure that the students know what is needed, expected, and due. Additionally, a teacher (online or not) who answers emails in a timely manner will be seen as more helpful and friendly, which in turn aids in discussion and makes the students feel more comfortable.
Luckily, our online academic coaches are highly qualified, experienced professionals in the appropriate academic discipline and have earned at least a Master’s degree from an accredited university. In fact, on average, our online academic coaches have 14 years of industry experience in their field!
Our coaches’ goals are fully customizable to your classroom and its needs. Because under the leadership and direction of your faculty, our online academic coaches can assist you with grading assignments, managing discussion threads, posting approved announcements, and managing day-to-day tasks and course issues in distance learning – such as timely and consistent communication.
We have been working in online education and distance learning since long before COVID-19, and the push for online learning began in 2020, which means we have our process and systems perfectly in place already.
Here is a .pdf of the partial findings of this research that were presented at the North American Management Society virtual conference. The principle investigators are completing their research study and we will supply a full report in Q4 2021.
P.O. Box 223696,
Dallas, Texas 75222-3696