Developing standards for best practices in prospective and new student introduction to e-learning

Abstract

As online courses and programs continue to grow at exponential rates and provide global reach, e-learning student completion, retention and persistence are areas of great concern to faculty and administrators. In response to this need the IMS Global Learning Consortium, an international e-learning technology standards and best practices organisation, is developing an evidence-based methodology to improve e-learning student persistence by identifying and defining best practices around three phases of the new student's introduction to the e-learning experience: expectations, preparation, and induction. These practices are under active development and this paper provides a progress report of work to date and an invitation to contribute to the development of this IMS standard.