Strategies - COMPONENT 2 - Meeting Student Needs - Component 2

Strategies for Meeting Student Needs – distance education differs in key ways from classrooms

To function effectively, students must quickly become comfortable with the nature of teaching and learning at a distance. Efforts should be made to adapt the delivery system to best motivate and meet the needs of the students.   Consider the following strategies for meeting students' needs:

 •Assist students in becoming both familiar and comfortable with the delivery technology and prepare them to resolve the technical problems that will arise. Focus on joint problem solving, not placing blame for the occasional technical difficulty.

•Make students aware of and comfortable with new patterns of communication to be used in the course.

•Learn about students' backgrounds and experiences. Discussing the instructor's background and interests is equally important.

•Be sensitive to different communication styles and varied cultural backgrounds. Remember, for example, that students may have different language skills, and that humor is culturally specific and won't be perceived the same way by all.

•Remember that students must take an active role in the distance delivered course by independently taking responsibility for their learning.

 

University of Idaho, Engineering  Outreach  (2012).  Distance education at a glance.  Retrieved from http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/eo/dist2.html