Motivating the Faceless Student
In 2012, there were over 21,147,055 students who were distance learners (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015). Due to the astonishing trend in online learning, higher education is branching out and developing blended and fully online programs. Currently the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) has 752 programs that are accredited (CACREP, 2015). Of those programs, 24 programs are online (CACREP, 2015). As more and more counseling programs are integrating the online learning format, it is essential for counselor educators to understand the unique benefits and challenges to teaching online. Furthermore, counselor educators need to develop a new approach to establishing positive learning communities, which will inevitably help motivate the online learners to be successful with both their education as well as the counseling profession.
Online Learning
Garrison and Kanuka (2004) believe that online learning occurs on a continuum depending on the amount of technological integration that occurs within the course. For example, one end of the online learning has very minimal technological integration, the middle of the continuum offers a delicate “blending” of technology and classroom strategies, while the opposite side of the spectrum is fully online learning (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). For programs that wish to be fully online and require no face-to-face component, there are various benefits and challenges to analyze.
Benefits to Online Programs
Higher education institutions are particularly interested in distance education programs because they often result in large financial returns (Appana, 2008). By offering online programs, it reduces the cost to universities. For example, they reduce the pressure of resources to be at a physical location (Bowen, Chingos, Lack, & Nygren, 2013). With various resources and information at one’s fingertips via the Web and online databases, students can access research without the university needing to have on-site libraries and research centers. In addition, online learning aids in the reduction of overhead costs for running facilities, which include: building maintenance, utility costs, and additional hired personnel for grounds upkeep (Smart & Cappel, 2006). Finally, colleges and universities do not need to worry about the overuse of facilities or managing where classes will take place each semester (Bartley & Golek, 2004).
Online learning is not only beneficial to the institution as a whole, but it offers students many benefits as well. Shea, Stone, and Delahunty (2015) discussed that this modality of learning eases many burdens of current learners. For example, students do not have the cost of traveling to the school, particularly if there’s not a school near the current location of the student. The flexibility that online learning offers is also important because students have more freedom to choose the time, place, and pace of their studies (Ryan, 2001).
Online learning promotes multicultural learning opportunities amongst the student body by attracting, enrolling, and retaining a diverse group of students (CACREP, 2016, 1.K). By offering online programs, students may attend from all over the world. This enhances the academic unit, especially those that are CACREP accredited, by encouraging students to learn multicultural and pluralistic characteristics, heritages, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences by engaging with their national and international peers (CACREP, 2016, F.2.a & F.2.d). In addition, online learning helps students to maintain the multiple roles and obligations they have outside of being a student (Fairchild, 2003). This is important for those students who are working, have families, and or other personal/professional commitments. Since many of the online students have multiple roles in their lives, it brings a unique type of student to the classroom, thus drawing on professional level peers (Holzweiss, Joyner, Fuller, Henderson, & Young, 2014). These students increase the critical analysis, developmental thinking, and broaden the application of the learning process for the entire class. Furthermore, the characteristics of online learners tend to have high standards for themselves, while also maintaining skills such as good time management, self-motivation, and discipline (Serwatka, 2003).
Challenges with Online Programs
While online learning has many benefits, there are also challenges. One common issue for many online programs is the retention rates. There tends to be a higher frequency of dropouts, which can be between 30%–50% (Allen & Seaman, 2010). The most common factors that impact the dropout rates include: problems negotiating technology and struggling with navigating course content (Tyler-Smith, 2006). Students may not clearly understand course standards or the course delivery system (Ali, Ramay, & Shahzad, 2011), which can be further impacted by the amount of support and/or computer literacy that the student has with technology (Furlonger & Genic, 2014). Technology issues, such as poor connections, sounds, visuals, and overloaded networks also impact the student’s satisfaction with online learning (Appana, 2008).
Fortunately, research indicates that programs can increase the rates of student satisfaction and reduce dropout rates with various interventions. For example, research found that by encouraging early and ongoing interaction with the faculty, it increased factors leading to student satisfaction (Horzum, 2015; Shea, Stone, & Delahunty, 2015). Furthermore, Horzum (2015) found that students expressed a desire for more interactive tools, increased social presence, and encouragement of active participation. These strategies could be coupled with Appana’s (2008) recommendations of offering special technological training, providing ongoing support, and keeping a good rapport regarding the technology between staff and students. All of these combined interventions could significantly impact the students’ satisfaction, thus potentially increasing the success of the program.
Online Learning in Counselor Education Programs
After understanding the strengths and challenges of online learning in general, it’s important to discuss the vitality of it, particularly as it applies to counselor education programs. Distance programs offer the unique ability to diversify the student body and faculty who teach in the program. By offering online counselor education programs, “systematic efforts [can be used] to attract, enroll, and retain a diverse group of students and to create and support an inclusive learning community” (CACREP, 2016, 1.K). These same efforts can be infused to employ a diverse faculty (CACREP, 2016, 1.Q) to enhance the counselor education team. With diverse faculty, the students will learn a multitude of teaching and therapeutic styles. In turn, these experiences will enhance the students’ capability to work with a diverse clientele.
A second influential strength for online counselor education programs focuses on the learning opportunities between peers. By increasing the prospect of multiculturalism within the program, it enhances the quality of the program. For example, online learning increases the potential for international students to enroll due to the ability to have access to the learning format from anywhere in the world (Katz & Associates, 1999). With international students, classes can expand learning opportunities for cultural diversity to include discussions on diverse spiritual beliefs and how that might impact the clients’ and counselors’ worldviews (CACREP, 2016, F.2.g). Furthermore, because online programs allow for demographically diverse students to attend, students can learn the impacts of heritage, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences from each other (CACREP, 2016, F.2.d). Discussions on the effects of power and privilege as well as help-seeking behaviors of diverse individuals (CACREP, 2016, F.2.e and f) can occur more fluidly when the student body is composed of various multicultural backgrounds and experiences. Finally, student diversity within a counselor education program may create a unique environment for peers to supportively challenge one another to identify and eliminate barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination (CACREP, 2016, F.2.h).
While online programs can attract a very diverse group of students, there are noteworthy challenges, particularly for programs that are training mental health counselors. For example, many people fear that online learning can create a relational disconnect between students and faculty because counseling at its core focuses on the ability to build relationships. How can counselor educators do this through the use of technology? As one counselor educator wrote about his journey from teaching face to face to teaching online, “Online education appeared, from the outside, to be nothing more than input and output, treating students as they, themselves were computers” (Dietrich, 2015, p. 93). Freeman and Tremblay (2013) found that online instructors actually felt disconnected from their students, which boiled down to a perception of not truly knowing their students.
In counselor education programs, the ability to maintain and sustain relationships with our students is pivotal. This relationship can create a parallel processing in which we model skills for building and fostering a therapeutic working relationship. Unfortunately, this task of a counselor educator can be inhibited due to technological barriers when education occurs online. Cicco (2013) recommended that when creating an online counseling skills course, there needs to be various opportunities for students and faculty to communicate. This may be via 1-hour webinars or synchronous methods to improve communication and relationships between peers and faculty or, as Andrade (2008) recommended, campus advisement meetings, attending off-campus professional development events, or conferences.
Carl Rogers discussed the importance of establishing a therapeutic alliance by exemplifying genuine unconditional positive regard and empathy. These particular concepts may be easy to read in a textbook; however, understanding what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like can be difficult to show in an online learning format because it lacks the contact and nonverbal cues that face-to-face interaction can offer (Appana, 2008). The lack of face-to-face interactions can impact the ability for counselor educators to further demonstrate professional identity and counseling skills. Finally, online programs may inhibit the collaborative approach between students, their peers, and the instructor, which has been found to be effective in fostering the learning process (Horzum, 2015).
Purpose
Research shows that learning communities and establishing a relationship with students correlates with an increase in both academic success and retention rates. In traditional brick-and-mortar institutions, class time, office hours, and student meetings help to achieve this relationship; however, when programs are offered via online learning environments, establishing this relationship can pose a significant challenge. From the humanistic approach of counselor education and the belief that fostering and modeling positive working relationships is a pivotal strategy to developing competent future counselors, the current study examined the participants’ belief about the importance of relationships in helping online students to be successful. Furthermore, the study examined effective strategies that current counselor educators are using to help establish relationships and actively engage with their students.
Research Design
A quantitative survey research design was chosen for this study. In order to gain knowledge about new strategies and ideas used to facilitate relationships and model counselor professional identity, the research used a structured open-ended questionnaire that was facilitated through the use of an online survey via Survey Monkey (see Appendix A). Counselor educators currently in the field received the surveys so that the researchers could understand the experiences and ideas shared by counselor educators.
Data Collection
This quantitative study used volunteer purposive sampling to identify current counselor educators in brick-and-mortar, blended, and fully online academic programs. The only inclusion criterion was that the participants needed to teach at least one course online in a counselor education program. A solicitation e-mail went out to counselor educators, cesnet.com list-serv, as well as program directors from different online counseling programs. They were also asked to forward the advertisement to any colleagues who teach online.
Once the participants received the e-mail advertisement, they decided if they wanted to participate. If they wanted to volunteer, the participants clicked on a link at the bottom of the advertisement. The link automatically directed them to an informed consent to read. Participants provided their consent by clicking on the link on the bottom of the informed consent. Then they completed a short background questionnaire followed by questions pertaining to strategies the online educator uses to connect and build relationships with their students.
Data Analysis
The survey gathered demographic information and asked open-ended questions to facilitate a more comprehensive opportunity to understand the experiences of counselor educators. Through the collection of answers, the data were organized into categories and themes that illustrated the views of counselor educators in the field. These themes were created by using exact matches in NVivo. Exact matches identified words (including synonyms) that were repeated throughout the participants’ responses. Based on the identified themes, the researchers interpreted the information to more thoroughly understand the uniqueness of online education and influential strategies that may be beneficial to facilitating positive working relationships with students.
Results
Of the 36 participants (14 males and 22 females) who responded and completed the survey, 34 were counselor educators and 34 participants taught online. Participants ranged from 27 to 59 years of age. The ethnicity of the participants were: 31 Caucasian, 2 Hispanic, 1 Asian American, 1 African American, and 1 chose not to answer. The average number of years the participants taught was 8.62.
The survey included a variety of open-ended questions. The first question asked about the importance of relationships. Specifically: How does the relationship between the counselor educator and counseling students affect the development of counselor identity in the student? Some of the responses received were:
“It is important and can model either successful or unsuccessful ways to be a counselor depending on the skill level and the professional identity of the Counselor Educator.”
“Wow, not sure I can summarize it briefly. It’s essential. We are models, gatekeepers, nurturers for the next generation of counselors. Modeling of good communication with students and high levels of feedback do translate, I believe into similar skills the student is developing related to counselor effectiveness.”
“This is my primary concern with online learning in our field. Students learn how to write, and how to answer questions, but they do not learn to engage with others in the moment.”
“Our students look up to us and hope to emulate us. I am an MFT, so I believe strongly in isomorphism. To make effective counselors, we have to first look in the mirror. It’s OUR job to connect with students, the same way it is our job to connect with clients. We have the power in the relationship, so we must be the ones who reach out to students. This really doesn’t change between online teaching and f2f teaching.”
“Counselor Educators are role models for our students. The skills we demonstrate as we teach will influence their skills and performance. If we reflect the counseling skills we hope to see in our students, we will encourage them to emulate these skills with their clients and continue to work toward developing themselves professionally.”
“It makes a tremendous difference, counseling students and counselor educators that build relationships during the program end up engaging in professional activities outside the program— presentations, working together on projects, providing references for positions, etc. The counselor identity is strong when the counselor educators model this identity and are engaging with students even beyond the classroom for real life application of what we teach.”
“Absolutely! When you have a relationship and they respect you, the students are more likely to want to emulate you. I tell my students about professional activities I am involved in. I encourage them to join me.”
A follow-up question looked at the strategies counselor educators use to build relationships with online students. The categorical themes included: connection (N = 20), presence (N = 19), accessibility (N = 17), responsiveness (N = 17), and delivery (N = 10). With regards to connection, participants stated the importance of getting to know the students as people as well as students (to include introduction discussions/identity collage and informal discussion areas where both students and the professor provide personal and professional introductions). The theme of connection also encapsulated the educators’ “passion” and “enthusiasm” for the profession. Participants stated the importance of online educators encouraging connection between peers outside of the classroom experience. Finally, participants discussed the need for online educators to recognize students who are struggling and to actively reach out to them.
The next two themes focused on “presence” and “accessibility.” “Presence” referred to the educator’s commitment to be active in the course. For example, how often does the instructor check-in with the students or respond to discussions occurring in the course. How does the instructor connect with the students and build those relationships? In the research, the theme of “presence” included statements about consistent involvement in online discussions (especially at the beginning of the course). It was also mentioned that the use of regular “News Announcements,” “Main-frames,” “Welcoming Emails,” and “Inspirational Quotes” are beneficial to establishing relationships. The parallel theme of “accessibility” was clearly stated by the ease of access to the professor to include cell phone, e-mail, Skype, and synchronous opportunities. Essentially, if the student had a question, needed to practice a skill, or had any difficulty with a concept, how easily and comfortably could a student reach out to his or her instructor.
With regards to “responsiveness,” online educators stated the importance of quick feedback that was specific, detailed, and personal to each individual student. Participants commented about the importance of valuing the quality of work over the due dates. When providing feedback, participants mentioned the value of offering more praise than criticism and validating the students’ perspectives/questions. Finally, educators mentioned the need to focus on participation in discussion board’s verses content and APA.
The last theme involved the delivery methods the educator used to help establish relationships. For example, participants stated the value of using various modes of technology. Furthermore, participants discussed the importance of integrating structured online delivery to include: clear expectations, employing social constructivist approaches, integrating audio/ video lectures/format /virtual class, using peer evaluation, and increasing the use challenging assignments as the semester continues.
Limitations
This study has a few limitations. The first limitation relates to the external reliability and generalizability of the results. Since the sample size was rather small at only 34 participants, the data collected may not be generalizable to the larger population of online counselor educators. While the current sample implied a commitment from the counselor educator to be willing to provide opportunities for students to interact in a meaningful way, not all counselor educators may feel the same way. Due to the small sample size, it cannot be assumed that all counselor educators will value the importance of interacting with students and creating working relationships.
The small sample size may also impact the credibility of the results in the eyes of administrators. While many participants discussed the importance of integrating multiple technological modalities, college and university administrators may not value these results due to the sample size. This could impact the administrations’ unwillingness to purchase various technologies to advance the connection between students and faculty.
Another limitation of the current study relates to the potential biases of the researchers. When analyzing the data and creating themes, qualitative analysis requires the introspection of the researcher. With this in mind, the themes discovered could have been influenced by the personal values of the researchers. This limitation could further impact both the internal and external reliability of the study.
A final limitation refers to the internal validity of the results. First, the participants’ answers may have been skewed due to the position of the researchers. For example, the participants may have answered the questions by discussing what they feel they “should” do as a counselor educator rather than what they truly do. This could have occurred because participants were informed that the researchers themselves were counselor educators. Furthermore, it could be that since the researchers did not observe the participants in their natural teacher setting, the answers provided to each question may not replicate the actual strategies used.
Discussion
Hrastinski (2009) discussed the need for online education to go beyond simply talking and writing. Many online programs rely on the writing component through discussion boards, papers, and other forms of written assignments. Some programs are now integrating synchronous components such as Blackboard Collaborate, Google Hangouts, or Digital Samba. These synchronous modalities allow for faculty and students to communicate in real time, which is a great resource to increase the connection with each other; however, educators need to do even more to create successful students and thus a successful program.
The information collected from the participants in the current study collaborated prior research that pointed to the importance of connection and presence. When counselor educators can connect with their students through a positive online presence, it is possible to promote learning communities where students can feel supported by their peers and faculty members (Glassmeyer, Dibbs, & Thomas Jensen, 2011). Hudson, Hudson, and Steel (2006) found that a student’s sense of belonging correlated to their success in the program. By establishing relationships with our students and thus creating supportive learning communities, students may be able to be more successful in online programs.
Supportive learning environments and faculty interactions also has been found to impact attrition rates for online programs. Attrition rates are found to be 10%–20% higher for online programs (Angelino, Williams, & Natvig, 2007) thus impacting the stability of a program. Schaffhauser (2009) reported multiple reasons for the astonishing attrition rate for online programs, including: financial challenges (41%), life events (32%), health issues (23%), lack of motivation (21%), and lack of faculty interaction (21%). It is proposed that by establishing relationships with online students through connection, presence, and accessibility (all three themes that were found in the current research) that counselor educators may be able to increase the motivation within the students. This motivation combined with the positive faculty interactions may sustain more online programs.
Finally, relationships between educators and students may also be an influential component of modeling the counselor identity for the faceless student. Through the interactions that counselor educators have with their students, it is possible for students to observe the essential qualities of a counseling professional. Albert Bandura (1986) discussed the influential vitality of modeling for people to learn. If counselor educators can establish relationships with online students through connection, presence, and accessibility, they can model the counselor’s role in establishing rapport and a working relationship with his/her client.
Conclusion
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Chronicle Research Services, 2009) projected that by 2020 over 60% of individuals will be taking all of their courses online. As online education programs continue to grow in both interest as well as necessity, it is proposed that there will also be an influx of counselor education programs to be offered solely online. That National Center for Education Statistics (2015) also found an increase with individuals going for a master’s degree or higher, stating the increase rose from 5% in 1995 to 8% in 2014. While 3% may not seem like a lot, interest is rising. With these statistics, counselor educators need to wholeheartedly reflect on how to establish relationships with their students via online modalities so that online programs, as well as the enrolled students, can be successful.
About the author's
APPENDIX A
Please answer the following questions.
Gender (male, female, other)
Age (actual age in years)
Ethnicity (non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander, African American, other, prefer not to answer)
Do you teach online? (yes or no)
If yes, is your program blended, online-only, other-please specify)
How many students are enrolled in your academic program? (0–50, 51–100, 101–150, 151– +)
How many students, on average, are in one of your online courses? (5–10, 11–15, 16–20, 21–25, 26–30, 31 and higher)
Where is your institution located? (Western Region, Eastern Region, Midwest, Southern, Northern, International—Please specify which country)
Do you teach undergraduate, graduate, or both? (undergraduate, graduate, or both)
How long have you been teaching? (in years)
Are you a counselor educator? (yes or no)
Yes … How long have you been a counselor educator? (in years)
No … What area of study do you teach in? (business/management, communications, criminal justice/ history/ political science, education, information technology, nursing/ health sciences, human services/ social work, other: ______)
Please rate the following statements (1-no value, 2-minimal value, 3-value, 4-great value) while reflecting on your work as an online educator.
The relationship between teacher and student is crucial to a students’ academic success.
The counselor educator’s role in promoting the relationship between educator and students.
The student’s willingness to participate in building a relationship between that student and the educator.
Availability of the student
Availability of the educator
Ease of accessibility (i.e. mobile phone, e-mail, text, etc.)
Approachability of the student
Approachability of the Educator
The use multiple media sources (i.e. online chats, Skype, telephone, e-mail, text) to support the development of student relationships.
What strategies do you use to develop your relationship with students?
What strategies have you tried that were not successful?
What are you most successful with in creating your student relationships?
What challenges present as a result of the online format that are distinct from the challenges that might otherwise present in a bricks-and-mortar program?
How does the relationship between the counselor educator and counseling students affect the development of counselor identity in the student?
