{"id":4647,"date":"2021-07-29T13:27:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T11:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matbury.com\/wordpress\/?p=4647"},"modified":"2021-08-13T00:42:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T22:42:01","slug":"why-do-so-many-students-drop-out-from-online-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matbury.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2021\/07\/29\/why-do-so-many-students-drop-out-from-online-courses\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do so many students drop out from online courses?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the transition from presential face-to-face English language learning environments to online, it is not unusual for academies & other providers to experience low rates of student participation & high rates of student drop-out. Why is this & what can be done about it? In the following article, I\u2019ll address some common issues & recommend a strategy for dealing with them.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please note that these recommendations are for purposely designed online & distance language learning courses which use a learning management system (LMS), e.g. the \u201cbig 4\u201d LMS\u2019 are Moodle, Blackboard Learn, Instructure CanvasLMS, & D2L Brightspace. They are not intended to apply to the predominant \u201cemergency remote teaching,\u201d i.e. face-to-face classes via Zoom, Google or Teams, typically used during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Misunderstandings, distractions & confusion<\/h3>\n

In English language classes, if students cannot focus sufficient attention on the meaning & language content of tasks, they are unlikely to learn much from them. Misunderstandings, distractions & confusion all take their toll on learning outcomes. As many teachers have learned, well-considered preparation & student training in the classroom at the beginning of a course can resolve many common issues with student engagement, motivation & participation. Likewise in online learning environments, the appropriate preparation & training can return similar benefits. This article will address one particular aspect of this which is: Transitioning students from how they\u2019ve previously learned how to perform learning tasks in traditional, face-to-face classroom contexts, to performing online learning tasks.<\/p>\n

Students already benefit from years of preparation<\/h3>\n

By the time most students start an online & blended English language course, they often have several years\u2019 training & experience of how presential classrooms & studying in general function from school & possibly post-secondary education, & also of the particularities of participating in English language classrooms, e.g. communicative language learning, at English language academies. They\u2019ll already be familiar with the typical layouts & organisation of coursebooks, teaching methods & types of interactions with teachers & classmates, participating in communicative tasks, & doing, submitting & reviewing feedback on homework assignments. They\u2019ll more than likely have had years of training & practice to develop strategies & techniques for more effective learning. In other words, they\u2019ll have learned to manage & minimise the additional (extraneous) cognitive load that typical classroom tasks impose. Such strategies & techniques are often referred to as meta-cognitive skills.<\/p>\n

Classroom preparedness doesn\u2019t necessarily transfer to online<\/h3>\n

Learning skills in one environment, i.e. classrooms, doesn’t necessarily mean that those skills will easily transfer to another, i.e. online. In fact, there’s a lot of evidence that this kind of transfer is unusual (Schwartz et al., 2005). Additionally, most students have little or no training or experience of how LMS\u2019 & online studying function so it\u2019s unlikely that they\u2019ll have had the same degree of training & practice in the particularities of participating in online English language courses as they\u2019ve had in traditional classroom environments. When transitioning classes online, failing to take this into account can result in imposing heavy cognitive burdens on students. They\u2019ll have to learn to navigate & participate in a strange new environment with new user interfaces, new media, new formats, & new types of activities while learning new language content at the same time, which will likely cause cognitive overload, i.e. feeling overwhelmed, confused, stressed & incapable of participating well. Even after starting their courses with the best of intentions, students may have persistent issues with cognitive overload & may eventually disengage, lose motivation, or dropout altogether.<\/p>\n

There are at least two possible strategies to deal with this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Simplify the learning tasks, in effect dumbing down & providing students with less authentic learning experiences, which appears to be the dominant strategy used by many of the online English language tutoring start-ups, or<\/li>\n
  2. Provide sufficient training & guidance so that students feel more confident in participating in more authentic, effective, & more complex learning tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As you may have already guessed, I believe that strategy 2 will lead to better learning outcomes, more authentic language use & learning, & greater student persistence. After all, feeling successful & competent at learning in a particular domain is one of the strongest motivators (Barron & Hulleman, 2015).<\/p>\n

    What do students need to learn?<\/h3>\n

    Such issues with engagement, motivation & participation can & should be systematically mitigated but how? From the beginning of their online studies, students should be inducted & trained in how to participate in their online English language course. Students need to develop comparable metacognitive skills for online study as they already have for presential face-to-face classroom study. Typical tasks may include students learning how to:<\/p>\n