Self-paced degrees have the potential to open pathways into higher education for millions of working adults, but they can also create different kinds of barriers to completion. In partnership with Calbright College, ideas42 explored ways to help learners scaffold their self-paced learning with optional milestones to help them stay on track to program completion.

Online and asynchronous programs can offer learners valuable flexibility, but can also make the challenge of keeping students engaged—a growing problem at colleges and universities across the country—even more pronounced. In partnership with Calbright College, ideas42 explored ways to drive student engagement by leveraging new media formats to foster interpersonal connections.

Asynchronous learning gives students the freedom to work whenever is best for them, but it can also make it harder for them to get real-time help when they run into difficulties. We partnered with Calbright College to develop a new model of peer tutoring to help students complete challenging assignments and establish a strong start in the first weeks of an online certificate program.

Peer-to-peer connection is associated with persistence and completion in higher education, but it can be difficult to achieve in online and asynchronous learning. Working alongside collaborators at UC Irvine, we partnered with Calbright College to develop a model of online learning communities to help students connect with each other through a series of structured activites related to their program of study and coursework.