The Outlook for Online Education: Tackling the Challenges AND Opportunities

In this edition of RNL@Home, I follow up with Cherron Hoppes, RNL’s Chief Academic Officer, after attending her recent webinar on Program and Course Design to Impact Enrollment. We dig into what the next steps in online education will likely be for colleges and universities.

The pandemic has had a huge impact on online learning. While many studies published over the last year and a half have indicated that a large proportion of students were dissatisfied with the remote learning courses that the pandemic forced on them, there is no doubt that these experiences have clarified their expectations for future online learning experiences and the advantages that online learning provides for busy working people.

My colleague Dr. Cherron Hoppes has spent more than a decade advancing the academic integrity of online learning at various institutions and now at RNL. I wanted to delve into some of the most pressing issues with her, and during our chat we discussed:

1. Her hypothesis on what effect the pandemic—and the remote learning experiences of millions of students – on the future of online learning.
2. What she sees as the outlook for online education in relation to the overall higher education market.
3. What she thinks are the most important things that students are looking for in an online programs today.
4. What the greatest challenges are for schools that are beginning to expand their online programs.
5. How best to “crack” the student engagement conundrum and where synchronous learning fits into online programs.

Watch the webinar on Program and Course Design

Hear more from Cherron as well as Dr. Paula Schmidt, Dean for the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, Clarke University, in our free on-demand webinar.

In this session, our two presenters explore how program and course design choices, sound pedagogical practices, innovative technologies, and authentic assessments will maximize students’ engagement and performance. Watch now.