It Takes A Virtual Village:  Practical Strategies for Improving Online Learning Retention Rates Recording Now Available!                   Buy this single session or purchase the package deal and save!    Download paper-based registration form  Description This webinar will focus on two critical aspects of online learning retention:  course development and online support services.  In the first half, Dr. Vince Schreck presents his theoretical model for improving online course retention.  The model is the product of several years of research at Marylhurst University where online course retention rates were at 91%.  Highlights include practical ways to set up online courses, build routines, create templates, and conduct faculty training.  Anita Crawley and Holly McCracken will present the second half and focus on the need for online student support services.  They will address the argument that online students require services and programs equal to those available for traditional students, delivered using the same technology used to deliver their online courses � most commonly electronically via the Internet.   Quote from our speaker �While online course enrollments continue to climb, retention and success rates in such courses and programs are frequently reported as typically lower than those delivered in a traditional classroom format; those of us in roles that support online students have a role in reversing that trend!" Objectives During this workshop participants will:   Become familiar with the scope of online academic support services Discuss the background to the problem of online course retention and the need for further research Learn the answer to the question, �Why should we care about online retention?� Be exposed to important variables in Schreck�s Online Course Retention Model, and how these variables can help their current students.  Discuss and share important retention issues with other participants in an open and receptive community  Identify the scope of support services that should be delivered at a distance Determine institutional approaches and outreach methods to assist students in persisting in academic programs through completion. Evaluate and discuss a range of issues related to developing and enhancing support services for online students Who Should Attend?   Instructional and Student Services Deans Online Learning Directors Instructional Designers Online faculty members Student Success Specialists Advisors and Counselors Student Support Professionals Anyone interested in improving online learning retention rates Who Are the Speakers? Dr. Vincent Schreck Dr. Vincent Schreck, schrecv@pdx.edu currently serves as the Senior Instructional Designer at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.  Dr. Schreck�s main duties revolve around faculty training and development and instructional design.  He has conducted extensive research at Marylhurst University (Portland, OR) concerning online course retention, and developed the Online Course Retention Model (OCRM) in his dissertation entitled, Successful online course retention at Marylhurst University: constructing a model for online course retention using grounded theory.  His next step in further development and validation of the OCRM is to test the model in various educational settings.     Anita Crawley Anita Crawley is currently employed as a Distance Education Counselor/Professor at Montgomery Community College in Germantown, Maryland, where she is responsible for developing and delivering support services, both on campus and online to over 3000 distance learners.  With Master's degrees in Counseling and Education Technology Leadership, this position allows Anita to combine her interests in counseling, online teaching and web development.  She began her career at Harper College before relocating to the East Coast.  Anita is also an online instructor for several organizations.    Holly McCracken Holly McCracken is currently employed as the Director of Online Programming for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Springfield in Springfield, Illinois, where she oversees academic support provision for Web-based programs, including student recruitment, outreach, and other capacity-building activities. She has taught at both the undergraduate level (in a variety of programs focusing on non traditional learning, including applied studies, liberal studies, and prior learning assessment) and at the graduate level (in the curricular areas of instructional design, training and performance improvement, and adult education) in both media-based and on ground learning environments, and currently teaches both online and on ground for several institutions. How do these on-demand trainings work?  1.  We will send you a link to the recording, which is good indefinitely.  2.  You can distribute this link to your entire faculty and staff via email.  3.  They can watch this presentation from any computer that has Internet and speakers.    How would I use it?  You can distribute the links any way you like.   Here are some ideas: Distribute all links to faculty and staff so they can watch these presentations anytime, anywhere and have a discussion board for each topic Distribute one link to all faculty and staff at the beginning of each month during the academic year and plan a discussion session at the end of each month for faculty and staff to get together and plan how they will implement the strategies presented Plan a day and time to show each webinar in a large classroom and invite all faculty and staff to attend - debrief immediately following the presentation Develop a professional development program around these topics with monthly themes and recognize the staff member that implements the best idea related to the theme Utilize these topics to develop cross functional and cross discipline teams to foster collegiality Utilize these presentations as part of your new employee training program