Answer Geek
QUESTION:Is there any research on successful online learners? Do they have characteristics that differentiate them from less successful students?
Donovan
Lots of informal research has been done on what makes for a successful online learner, especially in higher education. You're "right on" in asking whether they have certain characteristics that differentiate them. In general, online learners need maturity and persistence to work solo. They must be organized and comfortable with setting their own schedules for keeping pace with course modules, assignments, and off-line reading. They also must be open to risk taking because the technology can be unreliable.
Who are the most successful learners that I've encountered? Women who are juggling career, family, and college. They're goal-oriented multitaskers who have made prioritizing an embedded part of their lives.
Yakimovicz
In general, research describes successful online learners as people who are self-directed, motivated, willing to work on their own, and who can learn well from reading and writing text. But, the description really depends on the model used for learning. If the online format is more like single-learner CBT--completed at the learner's convenience--the learner has to be very good at time management and highly motivated to learn the content. If the learning is a time-limited online classroom format with reading assignments and interaction through online discussions, successful students must willingly risk sharing information and exposing their ideas to unseen classmates in a collaborative way.
What I've seen of successful online students ties in with what we know about adult learners. If they're engaged in the content because it's meaningful and relevant to their professional or personal lives, they make the commitment to learn. Matching instructional strategies with understanding of the learner is critical. Instructors have a responsibility to develop learning opportunities likely to succeed, not just look for people who can learn in the model they want to build.
Here are some topic-related Web links:
Link contributors: Donna McIntire, Mohamed Taher, Beth Archibald Tang, and Linda M. Watson
Published: February 2000