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INTRODUCTION
Online course offerings continue to increase across colleges and universities with new courses added to schedules each semester. "Current statistics show that more than 2.3 million students took an online course in fall 2004 and that this educational mode is growing more than 1 8% a year" (Moskal, Dziuban, Upchurch, Hartman, & Truman, 2006, p. 26). Despite the increasing number of online classes, anywhere from 50-70% of students do not complete online courses (Hannum, Irvin, Lei, & Farmer, 2008). Previous studies examined the quality of the learning experience in both online and face-to-face formats; however, few have investigated whether or not students are able to succeed in an online class prior to the start of the course. Additional studies are needed in order to find the best way to determine whether students have the ability to succeed in an online course before the semester begins (Bernard, Brauer, Abrami, & Surkes, 2004; Shinkareva & Benson, 2007).
Upon deciding to enroll in college, students need proper advising about which courses to take and whether enrolling in online courses is the best choice for them (Aragon & Johnson, 2008). Aragon and Johnson's research found that "students with lower GPAs [grade point averages] are at greater risk of dropping their online courses and should be advised of the demands of a course delivered in this format" (p. 154). Beyond the student's GPA, advisors should question how much time a student has to dedicate to an online course, if they have access to a computer with high-speed Internet, and how knowledgeable the student is about technology. A student who is not technically savvy faces an uphill battle with trying to learn the basic communication course content and understanding how to use the technology throughout the semester.
In addition, institutions should have a student help desk and/or online tutorial system to help students when problems arise throughout the semester (Aragon & Johnson, 2008; Calfee, 2007). Calfee (2007) examined the effects of using an online tutoring service to help students with writing papers. She compared the results of students' grades who used an online tutoring service called Smarthinking versus the grades of students who chose to either not use any tutoring service or opted for face-to-face assistance on campus. The...