12 Lessons Traditional Colleges Can Learn from Online Ones

As any prospective student knows — from the high school senior to the business professional going back to school — there are a lot of pros and cons to weigh between online colleges and traditional institutions. But that doesn’t mean their respective strengths and weaknesses should remain exclusive. Traditional schools can learn a lot from online colleges in terms of marketing, recruitment, and even providing career and support services to students more effectively. Here are 12 lessons we hope change the landscape of higher learning, all around.

1. Recruitment: For-profit colleges have gotten some heat for scam-a-licious recruitment tactics, but honest schools and programs aren’t interested in free laptop gimmicks or empty promises about making $1 million after graduating with a cosmetology degree. They are, however, less exclusive when it comes to recruiting students. While many traditional universities — especially those intent on raising their own reputation (ie, alumni donations) — stick to distinguished high schools to recruit from, online colleges are more open to all types of applicants. It’s funny, but true — you don’t have to work so hard to find diversity.
2. Marketing: Online colleges are all over the web, partnering with other sites to reach larger audiences than just traditional prospectives. High schoolers aren’t the only ones considering a college education: many adults — especially as unemployment lags on — are interested in going back to school, and can be better convinced through social media sites, blogs and other online marketing techniques.
3. Career-focused training: While many online programs are offered as extensions or alternatives to traditional academic programs at established universities, lots of online colleges offer more career-focused training, too. As industries like health care continue to grow at a very strong rate, professional programs in areas like medical technology, physical therapy, long-term care administrators and clinical nurse specialists are also gaining popularity. Online colleges offer a wealth of career-focused programs that satisfy the need for vocational education.
4. Online support and mentorship: Traditional universities do offer tech support to students, usually in the form of student workers or IT specialists paying visits or holding office hours. But online colleges have perfected the system of offering tech support over the network connection, or over the phone if necessary. And besides tech support, online colleges have made a point to deliver academic and student support services online, too, from writing centers to online tutoring to library access.
5. Increased interaction: In traditional colleges — including many smaller schools — interaction is limited to voluntary class discussion, or the occasional Blackboard post. Shyer students miss out if they’re afraid to raise their hand and speak out in class, and more talkative students can dominate the conversation. In the online learning system, seminars, web chats, virtual field trips, blogging, forums and video conferencing allow more opportunities for students to participate. Nearly everyone can find an avenue for interaction that they’re comfortable with, and that engages them more fully in the course material and class discussion.
6. Hybrid education: Many online colleges — even fully online programs — require or at least strongly encourage some face time from students, inviting them to orientation on campus, requiring on-site class sessions once per month, or internships at cooperating local facilities. They’ve embraced hybrid education, combining the convenience, flexibility and openness of online learning systems with the face-to-face benefits of hands-on learning and traditional schooling. Brick-and-mortar universities are starting to experiment with hybrid education, too, asking students to take tests online or complete certain introductory level courses online.
7. Cost-cutting potential: College is a massive investment, from tuition to books to room and board. And while online colleges obviously still charge tuition, there’s more cost-cutting potential for online students. Books and other learning materials are often provided in digital form. Students may — or may not — need to pay for an extra subscription to the school’s online library network, but it’s usually cheaper than spending hundreds of dollars on books each semester. Laptops and other equipment may also be costly, but saving money on commuting, room and board, and even food is easier when you’re living at home. This huge draw for students should inspire traditional schools to find ways to make books, dorm life and information access more affordable, too.
8. Accepting and accommodating nontraditional students: All types of students are accepted at online colleges, making them a real haven for nontraditional students. Adult students, students going to school part-time, and students seeking continuing education might feel out of place at a university that’s mostly comprised of 18-22 year-olds and that caters to their social lives and situations. In online facilities, students are treated the same and don’t have to compete for attention or services from their schools.
9. Career training resources: It’s a safe bet that your traditional college or university has a pretty helpful career center. You can meet with counselors, review literature, and maybe even get hooked up with an interview. But lots of online colleges help students find jobs even after graduation, encouraging them to meet at various campus locations for job search help, resume editing, and more.
10. Fast-track programs: Because it’s easy to enroll year-round through an online school, even if you’re studying part-time, it’s also more likely that you’ll graduate faster than you would from a traditional school. Lots of online colleges offer accelerated track programs, affording you the opportunity to finish school earlier.
11. Opportunity for instant feedback: This next lesson goes both ways. Students can offer instant feedback to professors by taking short quizzes at the end of online sessions, and professors can also give more immediate feedback to students, thanks to web conferencing, chats, e-mail and other technologies. Professors can reach more students more quickly if they’re only interacting via computer, rather than hosting appointments during office hours or jumping from classroom to classroom during the day.
12. More one-on-one feedback: There’s also more opportunity for one-on-one feedback and interaction in an online learning format. Students aren’t talking with professors or each other directly (as in, standing right in front of each other), but they are better poised to ask questions and get personalized responses. Clicking from a chat to an e-mail quite frankly takes less time than walking across campus for office hours or for a study group, especially when you have a smart phone, laptop or other mobile device that keeps you connected to school, classmates and professors at all times.

Source: www.bestcollegesonline.com

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