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>> My name's Darcy Hardy.
I'm with the University TeleCampus Student Services.
What I think plays into a quality online learning experience,
I would probably say two or three things.
One is the faculty development.
The faculty training.
Their preparation and being able to offer a course online and interact.
I also think another big part of it is the design of the course and how well thought
through the different learning elements are and the learning strategies are.
I think another part would be the interaction and keeping the students engaged,
whether it's through the instruction itself or with engagement
in group exercises and group activities.
But then I think wrapped around all of that is a very high level of services
that are surrounding the student, and whether that's a twenty-four by seven help desk,
or online tutoring, or someway that the student can get
to the information they need in the digital library.
All of that sort of plays into that quality aspect, and in my experience,
those courses that are the highest quality have every single one of those elements.
The design, the faculty preparation, the services wrapped around it,
the engagement of the course, and the fact that it's not just flat.
So, I think the best courses are those that incorporate all of those and courses
that don't incorporate all of those elements, can still be quality,
but those I would say are the very highest level.
>> So let me ask you this loaded question: Would you also predict that if you have all
of those pieces in place, that the students are gonna be more inclined to finish
and to be retained through their learning experience?
>> I think those students will absolutely have more opportunity to finish the course
and are more inclined to finish the course.
I don't know if that shows that they'll finish the program, because for most students that are
in the online environment, life gets in the way, and they have to learn how to manage that.
So regardless of how much interaction, how well the courses are developed
and how well the faculty prepared, that doesn't always mean they'll finish the program.
I do think if you looked at this very closely, our courses, running, you know, eighty-six,
eighty-five percent to ninety-five percent successful course completion,
I think that is absolutely related to those different areas,
but knowing that they'll complete a program, too many other things can be in the middle of that.