Two articles that I retrieved were from the one suggested by Dr. Naffziger and the next one I retrieved from the Ashford University Library data base. The one from Ashford Library, I search with "support in online learning" which took me to pages and pages of related articles, and I chose the one that closely resembled what I wanted, Autonomy Support for Online Students.
According to Lowe (n.d.), there's a perception by online students, that "persons and events external to themselves have a controlling influence over the course and direction of their life." He suggests that these students have been "domesticated", meaning that they've gotten used to the traditional mode of learning (face-to-face) where "learning is something that happens to them from the outside" (Ch. 8), instead of something that they themselves control or create to their satisfaction and ability.d
As a long distance education student myself, I occasionally lose interest in some of courses, which has led to poor performance and failing of the course. It has happened several times, to my shame. I would say that the reason for the lack of interest was lack of instructor engagement, encouragement, and autonomy. But then I have to stop and think, where was my own self motivation and drive to succeed? Why am I expecting the instructor to motivate me, it's not like I'm a grade school student. I had self determination, but, without the other support system I was working against myself.
In one peer review article by Eunbae Lee of Georgia Southern University; Joseph A. Pate of Young Harris College; and Deanna Cozart of University of Georgia, "Online courses face an ongoing chronic dilemma - a higher dropout rate than traditional face-to-face courses" (2015). They continue to point out that "lack of self regulatory skills was one focus that hurt students, along with lack of active engagement. In both articles, the authors strongly agree that, the responsibility is shared equally between the two parties, students and the institutions/instructors.
Lowe (n.d.), in his article also points out that "High attrition rates in adult distance education reflect, at least in part, on the inability of distance education providers to provide students adequate relational and academic support", however, he continues, "the problem of attrition in the distance education cannot be solved by only addressing institutional responsibilities. These two articles has given me a lot to think about as far as creating an effective online course. The online course should be interactive, I, the instructor should make myself easily accessible to my students, offer encouraging words to students, explain assignments clearly, and respond to student question in a timely manner.
Reference
Lee, E.; Pate, J.A.; & Cozart, D. (July/August 2015) Volume 59, Number 4.
Lowe, Stephen (n.d.). Responding to Learner Needs in Distance Education: Providing Academic and Relational Support (PARS).
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