Mind the Gap
With a growing body of students opting to take a “COVID Gap Year” how will colleges retain and engage students? How can they accommodate the diverse learning needs of students struggling with distance learning?
By Joyce Whitby
This blog post is for anyone involved with Higher Education 2020 who is impacted by the shift to distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic — aka EVERYONE involved in Higher Education — Students, Professors, College Admissions offices, Disability Support Services offices, Tutoring Centers and Academic Affairs. If you are paying a college tuition, or collecting tuition, read on.
More and more undergraduates are reporting that the COVID 19 Pandemic is most likely going to impact their planned graduation date. They cite higher levels of stress and anxiety, growing feelings of isolation, and a downward spiraling struggle to keep up academically, as primary reasons for taking a semester or even a full year off. As colleges continue to debate how long they will maintain on-campus, face-to-face classes vs reverting back to 100% online, they must also have a serious internal discussion about how to engage students, and accommodate the diverse learning needs of those students struggling with distance learning?
Nearly two million college students (13%) expect to delay their graduation because of COVID-19
SOURCE: Strada-College Pulse survey, Sept. 10–25. Base: current college students enrolled at four-year institutions, n=3,905. Student population estimate based on National Center for Education Statistics projections.
A survey by Strada-College Pulse concluded “Nearly two million (13%) feel they will have to push back their graduation date, and another two million-plus (15%) are unsure whether they will need to delay, bringing the ratio of students who may delay graduation to more than 1 in 4 … also, nearly 1 in 3 report online instruction has made learning “much worse.” The trend is that 22% of students will take the fall 2020 semester off as a ‘gap semester’ and many are considering taking the spring 2021 semester off as well.
The cost of 4 year degrees has gone up exponentially over the past 15 years. This has now come to a head in the face of unprecedented times during the COVID 19 pandemic, and many colleges are facing a brutal financial wake-up call. A growing number of colleges are even offering partial refunds just to keep students and parents engaged while distance learning. How this will impact the future of higher education as a whole is still unclear, as schools are faced with declining enrollment, students taking unexpected ‘Covid gap years’, and a growing rebellion regarding payment of full tuition, plus dorm fees, and student fees.
You can almost hear the cheerleaders in the distance…
… What can colleges do? >> Innovate.
… When can they do it? >> Now!!
The roster of colleges that have rescinded plans to reopen their classrooms has been growing by the day. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, fewer than a quarter of the nation’s 5,000 colleges are committed to providing instruction partially or completely in person. In a recent essay, Colleges are Reimagining Learning in the COVID Age, Elliot Markowitz writes that “… higher learning institutions, which have adopted some interactive learning tools and techniques in the past, need to accelerate their efforts during in the new world order of COVID-19 and online learning.”
The challenge of accelerating innovations that will help deliver high quality distance learning instruction is further compounded by the need to ensure accommodations for the diverse learning needs of students. There are many students who learn differently because they have learning disabilities, English is not their first Language, or they are just not entering with an ability to consume college level content without some level of tutoring or assistance. International students are still signing on to distance learning classes even if forced to remain in their home country. Some are literally taking courses in the middle of the night due to time zone differences.
“All is not lost, however”, says Dr. Yevgen Borodin, CEO of Charmtech Labs LLC who created Capti — a universally accessible reading productivity tool that helps both faculty and students. Dr. Borodin goes on to say, “As a Professor, I knew that students struggled to consume and digest a massive amount of content. That is why I created Capti, which helps students keep up with reading. And now, amidst this pandemic tsunami in higher education, keeping students engaged in reading should be a vital part of a comprehensive strategy for retaining students — and Capti is here to help.”
Faced with a changing landscape created by the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges need to innovate and accommodate now — on the fly, or face potential obsolescence by those institutions which are already re-imagining how they engage and support their students during distance learning.
Capti provides the much needed support to all students struggling to keep up with their reading and makes overachievers even more productive. Capti helps address ADA and Section 504 compliance making it an effective tool for your students with learning and print disabilities, as well as those students for whom English is a second language. But more than that, Capti is there when other support services are not. At midnight when students are studying for an exam or writing a paper, Capti is there to ensure that students can both grasp and assimilate the content that will lead them to success. Success is what students and their parents will use to determine whether the student remains enrolled or opts for a “Covid Gap” year.
Why Capti?
- The most comprehensive e-reader with the best quality text-to-speech voices and visual modifications to make any materials accessible
- The only tool that enables DSS staff and faculty to create, schedule, and proctor accessible assignments and exams in a secure environment
- The simplest solution to make content in any LMS more accessible
(Capti also has deep integrations with Canvas and Blackboard LMS)
Faced with a changing landscape created by the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges need to innovate and accommodate students now — on the fly, or face potential obsolescence by those institutions which are already re-imagining how they engage and support their students during distance learning. Capti empowers students to make any reading content accessible, help foster independence, and reduce the amount of support needed from DSS. Capti also empowers Professors to easily ensure that students can access their reading assignments. Capti supports students in their language, on their time zone, and at their ability level. This is one of those best kept secrets with a win-win for both students and their schools.
