Technical Issues
Learners who are intimidated by computer technology might find hardware and software problems they cannot fix so overwhelming that they might decide to discontinue the course rather than seek assistance. Once technical issues are identified with my students, I stay in the loop until the issues are resolved.
Sandra,
Do you attempt to determine where students are in their technical expertise at the beginning of the course or program? What tools do you use to assess their ability level? Do you require them to do a remediation of some sort if their skills are not there?
Herbert Brown III
In my observation the benefit of knowing in advance exactly where a student is in terms of computer & technical ability is valuable and saves considerable time once the course has began. And if possible, some level of technical support is available we can assure best learning practices for students. So, they are not distracted by hardware/software concerns.
I have learned to inquire of the students at the beginning of class if there are any students experiencing any technical issues. Sometimes there are courses which require software to be downloaded or articles to be retrieved from a specific site. If the student does not know how to download or reach a particular site, this can frustrate the student and cause them to halt their progression in the online course/program. Informing the student of where and how to access the technical support prior to starting the course will enable the student to contact tech support when they need it. I concur the instructor should remain engaged with the student to ensure any technical issues are resolved. This interaction will also strengthen the rapport the instructor has with the student.
we can do that within reason but we can also enlist help from tech support
Staying in the loop is essential. It allows you to support the student in the technical struggle and intervene when or if necessary.
With technical issues it helps to be proactive.
Michelle Boddy
Norwyn,
Good advice. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Where possible I will even offer to connect with the student to try to walk them through resolving an issue I think is simple enough based on the symptoms reported. I use tools like join.me to take a direct look at the machine. P.S. Don’t try that at home (My background is technology so I can get away with it :)). The idea however, is to ease the frustration where possible so the student can focus on the task at hand.
EDNA,
This great support of the student. It can be very isolating and frustrating when they hit this obstacle.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
