**6.1 Reasons**

Convenience and flexibility were the most frequent reasons cited by participants for pursuing online study. As Juanita explained:

Being a parent, wife, and having to work, online just seemed to be a lot better option for me, because it was something that I was able to do from home. And it was something that I was able to fit into my schedule.

As evidence of the growing presence of online courses on college campuses, Wendy enrolled in her first online course, because the professor she wanted for the course was teaching the content online. She says, "So it was actually more that I wanted to take a class from that particular professor, versus [just taking an] online [course]."

Paul chose online courses to supplement his on-campus course load. "I just show up for my classes during the day. And if I'm at school and I have time, I'm gonna be looking at stuff [for my online courses]. I know if I have deadlines for the online courses, I can go home and try to get those done."

Martha found online courses a good way to get in more courses in a semester. She did not have to worry about time conflicts as she did with on-campus courses.

Some students were reluctant to enroll in online study and only did so because they of the encouragement they receive from staff. Nathan, the program assistant director, recalled:

I had one student who I had pushed to get into an online course because she needed to fulfill some requirements. She was hesitant. She came from a community college and had not taken online courses. . . But it worked out a lot better for her. She's a single mother and this was just a lot easier for her. And so, she said she's going to look for more [online courses].

Warren was one of the students the ESO motivated to consider online study. He explained his introduction to online study:

I really didn't know that the university offered it, but Nathan here told me about [during intake], you know, just to look into it. So that's when I decided to look into it, and I just researched and went online to see what I needed, the system requirements, everything else, and took a little quiz on there to see if I was okay to take it, you know.

#### **6.2 Preparation**

The ESO has a two-pronged approach to making students aware of the online study option. First, during intake clients are made aware of the option and allowed to complete the distance learning readiness assessment. The results are discussed with the intake counselor and a decision is made about whether to pursue online options. Second, the program provides an introductory computer course to get students comfortable with using a computer prior to enrollment in any online course.

In addition, the participants were provided additional information about online learning after enrolling in an online course. According to Juanita,

The community college where I came from, they actually had [a face-to-face] orientation, and actually when you enroll for an online class, you have to attend a [a 30-minute] orientation class. It was in a classroom setting. And everyone that was enrolled for an online class had to attend. And sit through their orientation on how you get on their blackboard, how you contact the instructor, how the syllabus and everything was located in there. And so, that was a requirement in order to go through with the online class.

The other participants described online sessions completed in their homes. For Paul, it was "a virtual tour thing that you can do on the computer," while Martha "went into WebCT. . .and just went over a few of the guidelines on how to access your assignments, how to look up different areas."

#### **6.3 Financing**

286 International Perspectives of Distance Learning in Higher Education

The study findings are presented as five themes which address the research questions: 1) reasons for enrolling in online study; 2) preparation for online study; 3) financing online study; 4) experience in the online course; 5) success in online courses; and 6) and the

Convenience and flexibility were the most frequent reasons cited by participants for

As evidence of the growing presence of online courses on college campuses, Wendy enrolled in her first online course, because the professor she wanted for the course was teaching the content online. She says, "So it was actually more that I wanted to take a class

Paul chose online courses to supplement his on-campus course load. "I just show up for my classes during the day. And if I'm at school and I have time, I'm gonna be looking at stuff [for my online courses]. I know if I have deadlines for the online courses, I can go home and

Martha found online courses a good way to get in more courses in a semester. She did not

Some students were reluctant to enroll in online study and only did so because they of the encouragement they receive from staff. Nathan, the program assistant director, recalled:

Warren was one of the students the ESO motivated to consider online study. He explained

The ESO has a two-pronged approach to making students aware of the online study option. First, during intake clients are made aware of the option and allowed to complete the distance learning readiness assessment. The results are discussed with the intake counselor

I really didn't know that the university offered it, but Nathan here told me about [during intake], you know, just to look into it. So that's when I decided to look into it, and I just researched and went online to see what I needed, the system requirements, everything else, and took a little quiz on there to see if I was okay to take it, you know.

I had one student who I had pushed to get into an online course because she needed to fulfill some requirements. She was hesitant. She came from a community college and had not taken online courses. . . But it worked out a lot better for her. She's a single mother and this was just a lot easier for her. And so, she said she's going to look for

from that particular professor, versus [just taking an] online [course]."

have to worry about time conflicts as she did with on-campus courses.

Being a parent, wife, and having to work, online just seemed to be a lot better option for me, because it was something that I was able to do from home. And it was something

**6. Findings**

**6.1 Reasons** 

try to get those done."

more [online courses].

his introduction to online study:

**6.2 Preparation** 

personal impact of online study.

pursuing online study. As Juanita explained:

that I was able to fit into my schedule.

Four of the participants (Juanita, Wendy, Paul and Len) were financing their study with a combination of grants and loans. Martha, a senior citizen, was exempt from tuition and fees. Omar, an army man, was eligible for tuition assistance and the GI bill. Sarah was using her company's tuition assistance plan for her core courses. However, she will need loans when she starts taking courses in her major area, because the courses she's chosen are not covered by her employer. Interestingly, the grant/loan participants found that grants could fully support their community college coursework, while loans needed to be added to continue study at the four-year school because of the difference in tuition and fees. These loan amounts escalated for participants who were unable to get the online coursework they needed to complete the four-year degree at an in-state school. These students found themselves enrolling in out-of-state schools and paying out-of-state fees or enrolling in expensive, for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix and Education Direct.

Nathan was concerned about the financial burden associated with attendance at out-of-state and for-profit institutions, but he had to balance those concerns with the needs of ESO clients to obtain postsecondary education. He explained:

I personally don't limit our students from considering the University of Phoenix if they're able to pay for it. That's the big, big questions there. I think it's a good alternative if they're able to do that, especially the ones who are working full-time and have a family. And that's exactly who the University of Phoenix caters to. . .So we don't usually track our students in that direction unless they have some type of financial aid, or are able to pay for it, because they're going to be looking at a lot of loan debt. . .We don't like to see that for our low-income students.

Juanita, who wanted to obtain a bachelor's degree, could not find an appropriate online program at Southwestern Flagship University or any other state school. Though concerned about the financial burden she would incur by attending an online program at an out-of-state

Len thought he learned more online because of the design format:

more than just reading the book and listening to the professor.

university, it's always been students as a whole, students with the instructor."

take a blended schedule of both online and on-campus courses.

online setting.

**6.4.2 Student interactions** 

were the norm.

**6.5.1 Discipline** 

**6.5 Success in online learning** 

a very visual person when it comes to learning, and I just feel more comfortable in an

I think I learned more online. . . Because there's more material presented. I mean, instead of going to a class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and sitting in there listening to lecture and writing it down, that's all that was given. But online, you read the text, which you read in the class too. You read that text. And then, there was all these little things, you know, that you can go on, and if you needed more help there's always links to other places, to get extra, added—I thought that was

The participants' experiences were similar in that they all expected and experienced a high level of interaction with the instructor in all their courses. Interaction with other students was not a given for their online courses. Juanita explained, "In my community college classes, basically everything was more of student-teacher relations. And here at the

Paul was encouraged to "come and see" his instructors, a benefit for students like him who

Because Sarah had easy access to the campus, she was able to schedule study meetings at local eateries with students in her online courses. "There was also a discussion board where you can post. And the instructors would also post." Some of Paul's courses made use of

How to succeed online learning is very important for the student with little experience with this delivery mode. The participants identified three characteristics students needed for

All the participants considered student discipline important. According to Paul, "I think the biggest thing is discipline. Don't wait until the last minute, you know, 'cause it really is up

If they're a freshman student, I don't think I would encourage online until they actually took a class because it actually—I mean, to me, it's more of a discipline thing for me

"weekly chats" where students could interact with each other and the instructor.

success in online courses: discipline, initiative, and technology self-efficacy.

to you to get the assignments done and on a timely basis." Len added:

So if I had the opportunity, then I would, you know, definitely go over. The English teacher I saw once a week. The others I at least tried to meet. And sending private emails back and forth, I never had a problem with that. I was always comfortable with asking questions, or if I wasn't sure about something. And they were always really nice and responded pretty quickly actually. I never really had to wait for anybody for days. E-mail was a primary means of communicating with instructors, and prompt responses

or for-profit school, she was forced to consider both options. She explained, "I've gone to school for five years and never had had to take out any type of loans because I don't want to go into debt. And being low-income, that's something that, you know, I wanted to keep far away until it was a necessity. And that's where I'm at." If she were attending school in her home state, a Pell Grant would cover the full costs of her tuition and books. For the out-of-state school she has chosen, she does not qualify for financial aide and has to rely on loans.

#### **6.4 Online course experience**

The seven student participants shared similarities in their course experience as well as differences. These similarities and differences revolved primarily around course design and student interactions.

#### **6.4.1 Course design**

Course design varied across participants' courses. Juanita reported that "At the community college I attended, all their classes seemed to have the same format," while at the four-year college course design "depends on maybe how the teacher wants to teach the class and what they want to use. It changes [from instructor to instructor]." Martha described a course that made little use of course management system:

What it was is that he would email us the lesson, we'd have to download it, and then we'd have to go work on it. So it was like we had a book, and he had maybe I'm gonna say 50 questions. And you had to read the book in order to answer the questions.

Sarah's experience involved television:

Once a week the instructor emails you a question and study guide for the week, what you're supposed to read, and then, you watch Channel 71 here. And that's your weekly course… The instructor does your whole course; you take notes from that, and you can rewind it. I loved it.

Paul described a course that made more use of online tools and resources:

So Music Appreciation was really fun for me. They had videos that they would watch, that you would watch 12 sessions or so. My Political Science also had the videos and so did the World Literature class. So you could see the instructor and stuff. I think the ones that were most interactive. . . . And especially the English class. You know, there was a lot of everything. There were online e-books that we could read, along with the videos and stuff like that.

An aspect of online course design that was especially effective for the participants was the archived lectures and instructor presentations. Juanita explained,

I honestly think that the only difference between having the classes online for me, is that everything that the instructor lectures on, it's recorded right there. And when it's in the classroom session, if you're writing down something and he's already moved on to something else, you've already lost maybe a minute or two of something he's said, that you can't rewind and look at, as to what he said. And for me, when it's online, I'm a very black and white—You know, I see it and there it is, and you know, that's how. I'm

or for-profit school, she was forced to consider both options. She explained, "I've gone to school for five years and never had had to take out any type of loans because I don't want to go into debt. And being low-income, that's something that, you know, I wanted to keep far away until it was a necessity. And that's where I'm at." If she were attending school in her home state, a Pell Grant would cover the full costs of her tuition and books. For the out-of-state

The seven student participants shared similarities in their course experience as well as differences. These similarities and differences revolved primarily around course design and

Course design varied across participants' courses. Juanita reported that "At the community college I attended, all their classes seemed to have the same format," while at the four-year college course design "depends on maybe how the teacher wants to teach the class and what they want to use. It changes [from instructor to instructor]." Martha described a course that

What it was is that he would email us the lesson, we'd have to download it, and then we'd have to go work on it. So it was like we had a book, and he had maybe I'm gonna say 50 questions. And you had to read the book in order to answer the questions.

Once a week the instructor emails you a question and study guide for the week, what you're supposed to read, and then, you watch Channel 71 here. And that's your weekly course… The instructor does your whole course; you take notes from that, and you can

So Music Appreciation was really fun for me. They had videos that they would watch, that you would watch 12 sessions or so. My Political Science also had the videos and so did the World Literature class. So you could see the instructor and stuff. I think the ones that were most interactive. . . . And especially the English class. You know, there was a lot of everything. There were online e-books that we could read, along with the videos

An aspect of online course design that was especially effective for the participants was the

I honestly think that the only difference between having the classes online for me, is that everything that the instructor lectures on, it's recorded right there. And when it's in the classroom session, if you're writing down something and he's already moved on to something else, you've already lost maybe a minute or two of something he's said, that you can't rewind and look at, as to what he said. And for me, when it's online, I'm a very black and white—You know, I see it and there it is, and you know, that's how. I'm

Paul described a course that made more use of online tools and resources:

archived lectures and instructor presentations. Juanita explained,

school she has chosen, she does not qualify for financial aide and has to rely on loans.

**6.4 Online course experience** 

made little use of course management system:

Sarah's experience involved television:

rewind it. I loved it.

and stuff like that.

student interactions.

**6.4.1 Course design** 

a very visual person when it comes to learning, and I just feel more comfortable in an online setting.

Len thought he learned more online because of the design format:

I think I learned more online. . . Because there's more material presented. I mean, instead of going to a class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and sitting in there listening to lecture and writing it down, that's all that was given. But online, you read the text, which you read in the class too. You read that text. And then, there was all these little things, you know, that you can go on, and if you needed more help there's always links to other places, to get extra, added—I thought that was more than just reading the book and listening to the professor.

#### **6.4.2 Student interactions**

The participants' experiences were similar in that they all expected and experienced a high level of interaction with the instructor in all their courses. Interaction with other students was not a given for their online courses. Juanita explained, "In my community college classes, basically everything was more of student-teacher relations. And here at the university, it's always been students as a whole, students with the instructor."

Paul was encouraged to "come and see" his instructors, a benefit for students like him who take a blended schedule of both online and on-campus courses.

So if I had the opportunity, then I would, you know, definitely go over. The English teacher I saw once a week. The others I at least tried to meet. And sending private emails back and forth, I never had a problem with that. I was always comfortable with asking questions, or if I wasn't sure about something. And they were always really nice and responded pretty quickly actually. I never really had to wait for anybody for days.

E-mail was a primary means of communicating with instructors, and prompt responses were the norm.

Because Sarah had easy access to the campus, she was able to schedule study meetings at local eateries with students in her online courses. "There was also a discussion board where you can post. And the instructors would also post." Some of Paul's courses made use of "weekly chats" where students could interact with each other and the instructor.

#### **6.5 Success in online learning**

How to succeed online learning is very important for the student with little experience with this delivery mode. The participants identified three characteristics students needed for success in online courses: discipline, initiative, and technology self-efficacy.

#### **6.5.1 Discipline**

All the participants considered student discipline important. According to Paul, "I think the biggest thing is discipline. Don't wait until the last minute, you know, 'cause it really is up to you to get the assignments done and on a timely basis." Len added:

If they're a freshman student, I don't think I would encourage online until they actually took a class because it actually—I mean, to me, it's more of a discipline thing for me

For Len, who has to take care of his home-bound mother, money was a big issue, "I probably would not have been able to afford to drive back and forth and you know, I had a

The other participants expressed that while they would have been able to pursue their degree, it would have taken them much longer to do so without the online option. The flexibility of when to interact with the course, instead of a fixed meeting time at a physical

Although family or work obligations (Tones et al., 2009) and income are a few of the main barriers for adult students to enroll in courses, the student experiences in this research project serve as an example that low-income and working adults can be successful in a distance education course. From these students' experiences, we gain insight into effective

The students in this research project were served by a well-organized and multi-faceted

1. The program administrators had experience teaching and/or taking online courses. Their experience gave them a positive attitude towards online study and how it could be beneficial to the students they served. As a result, they directed students to this option. Further, when students were reluctant to pursue the new avenue, the administrators were able to address their concerns from a personal perspective in

2. Even though their students were enrolled online, Southwestern ESO provided face-toface contact with students as needed. During intake, students either came to the ESO office or ESO staff went to the students. This type of personal contact provided clear

3. Southwestern ESO supported students' transition from the community college to the four-year university. This support throughout the college career was important in

4. Southwestern ESO provided face-to-face and online training, along with an orientation session to prepare students to study online. By providing these preparation activities, the program reduced some of the apprehension that students had towards being able to

evidence to students that Southwestern ESO would be there when needed.

very good, running vehicle to drive back and forth and spend the time in town."

location, allows students to modify their schedules for more learning opportunities.

learning environments that support the needs of working adults.

support organization. Southwestern ESO had four defining characteristics:

addition to directing them to program supports for online study.

helping students to persist in postsecondary education.

be successful studying online.

and start all over again.

**7. Conclusions** 

**7.1 Lessons learned** 

**7.1.1 About the program** 

with me being a military spouse and having a child and moving, I've been able to move in the middle of the semester and still take my classes and continue my education from one state to another. Whereas if I didn't do that, then I'd have to leave school, classes,

because I don't think online classes are for everybody, to be honest with you. Because it took a lot of discipline from me, but I've been through other classes, and so, I want to do this, so that's why I made myself do this…I would like to say it would be for all the students, but like I said before, I think it's for students who are more in control, more disciplined in doing work on their own.

#### **6.5.2 Initiative**

Initiative, also referred to as aggressiveness and self-motivation, was also identified as important for success. Martha provided this advice:

You have to have a certain type personality to do online and not be fearful or not be hesitant or, you know, not be afraid that you won't know the answer. So you have to pursue it the best way you can. But you have to know that the internet has a wealth of information on your particular course. . . They have to be almost aggressive, not assertive, but they have to be aggressive, because – and they have to want to accomplish goals. And I'm talking male/female.

Sarah agreed:

I think you need to be kind of on your—How do I put this? An independent learner, and just study. And there's always someone there for you. Phone or email, or you can go to their office. You feel like you still have like classmates, because you go on the message board. So don't let that frighten you, that you won't have a teacher there in front of you to ask questions. It's kinda like you still have a class, but it's just at home.

#### **6.5.3 Technology self-efficacy**

The participants stressed the importance of students enrolling in online study having a working knowledge of computers and the Internet along with comfort working online. According to Len, "So I think the first thing, you know, they need to learn about is computers and how to use the internet." Juanita encourages those counseling and supporting low-income students to:

Just to continue to be supportive of someone, especially if they do not know anything about computers, just to help them by referring them to places that offer free computer, limited classes, you know, limited basic computer classes or, you know, where they can improve their skills on them, and just to encourage them to not give up. I know sometimes some people, you know, we live in a world of technology, and a lot of times people assume that you should know something about computers. And if you come from a low income family like I did growing up, we didn't have that option of having a computer in the house. And I actually didn't have my first computer until maybe 6 years ago, and even then I was about 23, and at that time, you know, a person could own a computer and still not know anything about it. So it's just maybe just continuing to offer support for them and encourage them.

#### **6.6 Personal impact of online learning**

Participants were asked to assess the impact of online study on their lives. Two students, Juanita and Len, acknowledged that they would not have been able to work on their degrees without the online option. Juanita explained:

with me being a military spouse and having a child and moving, I've been able to move in the middle of the semester and still take my classes and continue my education from one state to another. Whereas if I didn't do that, then I'd have to leave school, classes, and start all over again.

For Len, who has to take care of his home-bound mother, money was a big issue, "I probably would not have been able to afford to drive back and forth and you know, I had a very good, running vehicle to drive back and forth and spend the time in town."

The other participants expressed that while they would have been able to pursue their degree, it would have taken them much longer to do so without the online option. The flexibility of when to interact with the course, instead of a fixed meeting time at a physical location, allows students to modify their schedules for more learning opportunities.
