Accommodating diverse needs of students in online courses: What works!
Abstract: Even though distance education provides a great opportunity for non-traditional students, it is very challenging to meet diverse needs, expectations and goals each student brings to the online environment. Many times students have a difficult time adjusting to the unstructured nature of online courses. Both students and instructors who are new to distance education sometimes encounter transition problems from traditional face-to-face to the more flexible feature of online instruction. In this presentation, strategies that have worked successfully in graduate distance courses will be discussed. Emphasis will be on online learning styles, study strategies, collaboration techniques, and assessments as well as sharing two data gathering instruments.