At the top of my DLA Christmas Wish List would be a tool that automatically notifies DL support staff when a student is exhibiting at-risk behaviors in an online course (not logging in, not completing assignments, poor grades, etc.). The support person could then immediately contact the student and assist them or refer them to other services if needed (tutoring, counseling, etc.). I only recently learned that Blackboard has an integrated tool called Early Warning System that operates along these lines, and allows an instructor to set certain minimum standards. When students do not meet these standards, the instructor (and an "observer" if the instructor chooses) can pull this information up in a report. Another product, which I just discovered, called Starfish Solutions Early Alert appears to go a step further by not only identifying concerns, but tracking and facilitating interventions. I am not sure why I have not seen more discussion or excitement about these possibilities, since they have the potential to provide dramatically scale DLA student support services and create immediate improvements in retention.
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8 comments:
Right on Melly! We are currently starting a beta test of Starfish Solutions Early Alert system. In the state of Arkansas, the legislature is looking at making major changes to the funding formula for higher ed. These changes would reward retention and graduation rates, not how many bottoms are in the classrooms.
After seeing this product, I really see it as a major plus to increasing (and keeping) anyone's enrollment up and most importantly helping change and assist the educational lives of our students.
Thanks for the great post!
Terry Patterson
Director of Distance Learning
South Arkansas Community College
Terry, please let us know how it goes. I am really, really interested in this.
Thanks for your post Melly. It's good to see I'm not the only one thinking about Christmas... I've got a new Macbook on my mind... and I've already seen Christmas trees for sale at Costco! :)
Anyway... yes, this topic (early warning and student engagement) is quickly becoming an important issue as colleges work on systemic processes designed to better retain students and to ensure their success.
I will say that Blackboard's Early Warning System that is built-in is an OK tool. It doesn't do any "automatic" notification as the faculty member needs to create a rule first, and then run that rule manually. I'm sure Bb will continue to improve the capabilities, but overall, this is why I'm particularly excited also about the Starfish solution.
Because Starfish is focused on retention tools... it's in the name of their company :), I am looking forward to a more deliberate and robust set of capabilities in the area of early alerting and detecting of potential problems that, through intervention, can contribute to better success by students.
Grand Rapids Community College is getting ready to begin testing the Starfish Early Alert system to see how it may help us better meet the needs of our advisors, counselors, instructor, tutors, and students.
Sincerely,
Eric Kunnen
Coordinator of Instructional Technologies
Grand Rapids Community College
Thank you, Eric. Do keep me updated as your beta test proceeds, and I will follow up on the blog. I can't recall being this completely thrilled and hopeful about a new product since we first chose a CMS and went online over a decade ago. We have worked so hard (with great success) to pull up retention in undergraduate online courses. But the process has been extremely labor intensive, and I've always thought "there's gotta be a better way."
Thank to share great information!
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A great blog like this makes you think and you’ve certainly put down a few points for me to consider.
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