Online Retention FIG: Notes
March 30
Present on call: Ellie, Rae Ann, Ramona, Jan, TJ, Minta, Lisa, Aldrian.
Agenda Items:
 Decide how we are going to disseminate the online teaching tips
 Check-in on pilots
 W survey
 Videos
 Reports for end of term/summer
 Begin to think about how our efforts and work can be continued into the
future
Priorities for today:
 Our priorities for the remainder of the semester:
o Online teaching tips
o Reports
o Video
o Outcomes/deliverables
o Pilots
1. Thank you to Rae Ann for getting Tips Wiki going. Thank you to Rae Ann and
Ramona for contributions to it.
2. Discussion of possible dates for future calls. Ellie will create/send a doodle
survey. We touched on the length of calls. Our calls are scheduled for 2 hours,
though we don’t always go that long.
3. Reports
a. Video idea discussed
b. We still need to submit a written report, but a video could be a part of our
final product
i. Choose one (or more?) of our pilots and how it worked
ii. Include screen shots from pilot/s Bb
iii. Real progress
c. Outcomes
i. What we can offer to other online instructors
d. Deliverables
i. Best practices
ii. Data collected during first semester
iii. First video (December 2011)
iv.
W Survey
v.
Online instructor survey
vi.
Online tips
4. W Survey: Lisa and Minta
a. ITS gives them a list as an excel file. Lisa and Minta will send after the
April 6 W deadline using SARS
b. Question about previously sent link by instructors: The mass distribution
will have a flag for students not to retake if they have already participated
5. Pilots
a. Qualitative or quantitative?
b. Discussion: It depends on the pilot. For quantitative we would need two
groups, for comparison.
c. Even if numbers don’t change, anecdotal information is relevant:
Qualitative
d. Pilot reports due to Ellie by end of June
e. Giving extra time for assignment submission
i. Rae Ann has had great success. Others have also used this with
success
f. Discussion: How much extra time do we put in in order to keep students?
i. In the end many still drop or if they stay, how much time have
we invested for each student?
g. Ramona pointed out issue of enrollment management
h. Question: does online learning always work well? Are we spending our
time on students who are at higher drop risk?
i. Aldrian has been email and meeting with students. He has also assigned
two due dates.
j. Our common theme: It’s complex
6. Online Teaching Tips
a. Continued discussion of how to distribute
b. Email
i. Lisa and Minta feel a variety of senders would engage more
instructors to read the emails.
c. Community of Practice
i. This was the intention of the BOLT site but it was underused
ii. Should BOLT be revamped?
d. Ramona created blog, but did not get a good response
e. Newsletters
i. Lisa and Minta are revamping online learning link
ii. Website: in Chabot site. It can be copy/pasted into email
f. Visuals: 30 seconds to better online teaching (Ramona)
g. Minta: Twitter is a good tool for quick blurbs
h. Lisa and Minta are handling Facebook site: We have an approved site
i. Lisa thinks departments can have Face book accounts, but we
need a content manager, as with websites.
ii. Minta: uses Facebook/Online teaching conference. Do we know
if online instructors are using FB? And beyond?
i. Discussion: How do we engage the online teaching community at Chabot?
We have to sell it. How do we gain their attention?
i. Ramona will add links to COOL site
j. How many of our online instructors are tenured, vs. adjuncts?
k. Return to discussion of students who do not have literary functionality
level to succeed.
l. TJ proposed in English Dept. revised throughlines and articulated
assumptions