05 May 2009

Getting Started

I am about to begin a new service for educational support of online students in the Williams Lake area in British Columbia, Canada. There are several situations that I hope to address in providing this service.
First, there are few of the local graduates from Grade 12 who continue formal education. Many cannot afford the expense of moving to a larger university city in terms of their finances, their families, and their social networks.
Secondly, online education is intimidating for many people. I think of it like trying to get at a very thick milkshake through a very thin straw: a lot of work for very little result/feedback :). Completion rates for online courses are generally quite low (I guess about 30-35%, but many educators have told me they think I am a bit optimistic!).
My idea is to provide face-to-face learning situations for students who have enrolled in online courses. At present, the plan would be for students to enrol in the same online course, say in English or Math, and to engage me (Paradox Educational Services) to act as a learning coach. The analog for this would be where people serious about fitness or a particular sport would engage a personal trainer, in order to make their training programs as efficient and successful as possible.
I would like to know what others think about this idea.

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