Motivating Online Students Surviving the Consequences of an Economic Downturn

The purpose of the presentation is to highlight and identify how negative economic conditions impact the motivation of online students.  During periods of economic downturn many students are negatively impacted as they lose their jobs, see cutbacks in hours worked and/or salary, are forced to retrain or learn new skills, take on additional responsibilities within the workplace, and/or lose or reduce economic security as expected savings or retirement investments are impacted.  Surviving the consequences of an economic downturn can result in de-motivation in the workplace and in the classroom as well.  The presentation seeks to provide guidance on how to identify the student survivor in the online classroom, review key factors necessary to create or enhance individual and class motivation, and discuss possible techniques or methods faculty and administrative staff can implement and utilize to reduce the impact of economic de-motivational factors.