Old paradigms, new learners

ABSTRACT

The chapter will be divided into three sections. The first section provides a brief look at the history and inception of online degree programs, supporting technology, learning platforms, and the early demographics of the typical online degree seeking student. The second section will address the changing online degree student demographics of the past five years, organizational expectations of graduating students, and the stagnant online learning model that is less than effective in student skills acquisition and knowledge retention. The third will address the COVID-19 effect on online learning, degree-student demographics, the cultural shifts that are emerging in the student population, and the need for new interactive online models to engage the student. This section will also address the need for new models of online training for faculty to provide a quality educational environment for the online student. The chapter will close with assumptions about the future of online degree programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)