Out of sight, but not out of mind

A case study of the collaborative development of a university-wide orientation resource for online students

Bibliographic Data

ID21618599
AuthorsFilia Garivaldis (0000-0002-4264-7828, Sustainable Development Institute, corresponding author), Jennifer Chung (0000-0003-0770-2884, Monash University), Leah Braganza (Monash University), Lilani Arulkadacham (0000-0001-5061-3030, Monash University), Richa Sharma (0000-0001-5509-2078, Monash University), Andrea Reupert (0000-0003-1447-7769, Monash University), Stephen McKenzie (0000-0002-7319-8965, The University of Melbourne), Geoffrey Rose (0000-0002-3662-0143, Monash University), Timsy Gupta (La Trobe University), Zahra Aziz (0000-0002-1755-4187, Monash University), Tony Mowbray (Monash University), D Illic (0000-0001-5127-9185, Monash University), Matthew Mundy (0000-0002-7073-0047, Monash University)
Year2022
Volume70
Issue2
Pages531-558
Publication date2022-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Technology Research and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1042-1629 • E-ISSN: 1556-6501
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11423-022-10090-3
PMID35228785
OpenAlexW4213103197
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited32

The global online education sector has been rising rapidly, particularly during and after the events of 2020, and is becoming mainstream much sooner than expected. Despite this, research studies report higher levels of perceived isolation, difficulties with engagement, and higher attrition rates in online compared to equivalent on-campus programs. Reasons include restrictions to the type of institutional support accessible by online students, and the lack of comprehensiveness of orientation resources. This paper describes the collaborative efforts by a cross-faculty academic team, supported by a community of practice, to create a university-wide online orientation resource—the Monash Online Learning Hub (MOLH). The development of the MOLH involved multiple phases, including an analysis of current practice, resource design and content creation, formative evaluation by staff and students, and successful integration into the university’s mainstream student orientation platform for widescale implementation. The methods adopted were varied, and involved generating both qualitative and quantitative data across multiple phases of development from online education experts at the University, that culminated in the gradual building and refinement of the MOLH. Final outcomes, implications and lessons learned are also discussed in this paper

Distance education · Educational technology · Formative assessment · Higher education · Knowledge management · Mainstream · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Higher Education Governance and Development · Higher Education Research Studies · Online and Blended Learning · Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access