From: papers@icsg.info <papers@icsg.

info>
Sent: Sunday, October 1, 2017 11:19 PM
To: Sneh Bhardwaj
Subject: Re: ICSG - Abstract

Dear Mr Bhardwaj

We are pleased to inform you that your abstract titled "Challenges,

Opportunities and Evaluation of Online Facilitators (OLFs) in Australian
Higher Education" has been accepted by the Review Committee for
presentation at the International Conference on Sustainable
Globalization, to be held at the Kochi Marriot in Kerala, India, from
the 11-13 Jan, 2018.

You are requested to submit a full paper for peer review towards
publication in the Conference Proceedings that will be released at the
conference. Please use the guidelines in the conference template found
at www.icsg.info to submit your paper.

We look forward to welcoming you at the conference!

Sincerely

Dr Hedda Sander
ICSG Review Committee
Committee chair
We look forward to welcoming you at the conference!

Ostfalia University
Faculty of Supply Engineering
Dean of Studies
Institute for Bio- and Environmental Technology
Salzdahlumer Str 46/48
38302 Wolfenbüttel, Germany
h.sander@ostfalia.de
+49 5331 939 39380 (tel)

Abey Kuruvilla, Ph.D.

Programm Committee
Committee Chair

Executive Director, International Affairs and

Associate Professor of Business
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
900 Wood Road, P. O. Box 2000
Kenosha, Wisconsin 53141-2000
262-595-2105 (tel)
262-595-2680 (fax)

Challenges, Opportunities and Evaluation of Online

Facilitators (OLFs) in Australian Higher Education
Abstract

Student community of the present era is distinct from yesteryears’ in several aspects.
One, it has become lifelong as people venture out of their present careers to embrace
new ones. Second, working professionals enrol in higher education to upgrade their
educational profile for a possible career growth and advancement. The adoption of
online teaching and learning in the higher education sector is found across a range of
academic disciplines, i.e. management, commerce, education, accounting etc. Online
courses have made the possibility of virtual classrooms a reality without the extra
pressure on the campus infrastructure of providers. During the five years beginning
2009, the online education industry in Australia has seen a rising trend with
approximately 14% growth (IBS World, 2014). With substantial educational stakes in
online education, the issues of effective online learning environment and student
engagement become pertinent. Additionally, more dropout rates from the online
courses outline the importance of evaluation of OLFs’ role (Liaw, 2009; Hrastiski,
2009). OLFs’ recruitment is subjected to rigorous selection criteria by the Australian
educational institutes yet for most of the OLFs; this is a part time engagement only.
The challenges for the OLFs include achieving a balance between their commitments
and ensuring effective engagement of ‘busy’ students through problem solving and
enabling facilitation approach.

Key words: Online facilitators, engagement, virtual, education

Main Conference Topic: Education and challenges of Teaching Professionals

References

1. Hrastinski, S. (2009). A theory of online learning as online participation.

Computers & Education, 52 (2009), pp.78-82.
2. IBS World. (2014). Online Education in Australia: Market Research Report.
In A. X008 (Ed.), (Feb 2014 ed.)
3. Liaw, S. (2008). Investigating students; perceived satisfaction, behavioural
intention and effectiveness of e-learning: A case study of the Blackboard
system. Computers & Education, 51, pp. 864-873.