Student CMS Orientation
My name is Diane Small-Puente and I currently teach Computed Tomography online with MOODLE2. The last 8 weeks have been very challenging in regard to some of the students' lack of ability to utilize an online platform. Currently, we have an orientation that begins the same day as the course and it does not require each student to participate. I have had several students who are unable to use the system and have had many "calls" and have had to take time to go through tutorials personally with the students because we do not have the IT support. I have made the recommendation that the orientation be completed before the course start date. Also, our orientation is not instructor driven, I fill that the students need to achieve a level of competency in order to enroll in an online course. Online instructors......what is your process for orientation?
Diane
Yes, you are so right. A CMS/LMS should never be rolled out until a successful pilot program has been tested. End users should always be involved in the development through prototypes. This was just a poorly managed systems development. Where was the PM?
It sounds like a blended program which is a GREAT way to combine resident and online learning. Even if students are outside of the immediate area, I am certain tutorial videos could be created for new users of the CMS to view and practice. Even by creating a simple practice assignment and/or practice quiz or exam. Students enrolled in the online program should become familiar with the CMS rather quickly.
Aubrie,
I really like this idea if you can do it. Do you do an in-person session for this orientation? If so, that could be a problem for students outside of your immediate area, but I can see how this would increase your retention rates.
Herbert Brown III
I think all schools should have some sort of prerequisite for an online course. Even though in today's day and age the majority of us use computers, but the way they are used is not necessary the way it would be needed for a class. Our orientation is instructor driven so that we can train the students on how to use the learning tools given to them we also provide video tutorials for them to watch to help guide them on how to use the program that they are learning with. It seems to work and if they run into problems we communicate via emails until they grasp what needs to be done.
At our institution, we require all students to attend a 4.5 hr training session.
The training session is delivered by the department supervisor and was developed with the assistance from the program instructors.
During this session, we provide the students with a training course that walks them through everything they will be expected to work with in their online courses.
Since we have been requiring the students to attend these training sessions, our retention rate has increased in the online courses.
While some students may have some experience online at another institution, we still require their attendance because we may have different expectations.
The training session provides us the opportunity to ensure all students are starting with the same expectations and skills.
Ra'kia,
Students without the prerequisite technical skills can be a problem in a class. Are there self-paced remediation or other learning modules that students could complete that would "refresh" their skills in a specific area they are having difficulty? It might be helpful for the institution to have a "support" site created with instructional videos, etc. that students can review when they forget something, such as how to take a screen capture.
Herbert Brown III
In the program I instruct for, the first course teaches students basic computer knowledge along with introductory material required for the overall learning concepts of the program. The introductory course teaches students, how to take screen shots, use excel, etc. However, as I am now teaching a higher course level within the same program, I still notice there are some students that do not know how to access all the materials within the course, especially since the learning platform constantly chages with upgrades. I believe that all students will benefit from a introduction on how to operate the course content before each course. By doing this, the students will improve at utilizing the online platform because it will be reinforced before or at the start of each course.
-Ra'kia
Diane,
We are experiencing the same issues in some of your programs. I also find that I provide too much technical support which takes away from my teacher/facilitator time. We do not have any orientation materials right now so a few instructors and I are going to build an orientation system and hopefully require students to complete it before taking classes. At least then we will have a system to "remediate" students to if they still start without the skills they need.
Herbert Brown III
