A technical skill I believe is important for my online students is their ability to review the comments sent to them and to make changes to their writing skills, when necessary.
Dear Dr. Crews and Dr. Wilkinson,
A student must first become comfortable with the Virtual Campus. They must understand where and how their assignments are submitted, how to access and post on the discussion boards, how to log on to a virtual chat, and where to find the syllabus, course files, interactive media, and tutoring services. If a student does not feel comfortable just navigating around the Virtual Campus, then these problems will become an even bigger stumbling block when it is time to submit their first assignment.
Last term I was teaching a class where all of the students had taken a leave of absence from school for at least one year. Therefore, they had already taken their first courses that introduce them to how to use the required technology for the university, but they had taken these courses a long time ago, and since then many things had changed. For the entire course, I found myself addressing technology issues more than focusing on the course content when communicating with my students. I took them on tours of the Virtual Campus during the virtual chats, called them on the phone and walked them through submitting assignments and posting discussion board postings, and pushed them to call Technical Support constantly. Our campus has an originality verification tool that requires students to submit projects in Microsoft Word. My students would constantly submit projects in other formats, and having to ask my students to submit their assignments again in the required format seemed to frustrate them.
I think that a technology refresher course should be required for those students who have been away from the online learning environment for so long. Until then, I will definitely offer a tutorial during the first week of class on how to use the Virtual Campus if this situation happens again. I will also survey my students during the first week to determine if any of my students feel uncomfortable with the Virtual Campus and the technological requirements of the course so that I can address the students’ concerns early. I definitely don’t want to wait until the assignments start being submitted incorrectly again!
Yours Sincerely,
Sarah Pingrey
Jennifer ,
Yes, you are correct. It is amazing that their technology expertise is very specialized. That is a great idea to have an orientation to the LMS.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Students in an online course must have a basic understanding of their computer and its software. I am often surprised when students who are well along in their online program still seem unsure about some of the basics such as how to load a file or conduct a search on the internet. I believe the students need to have a grasp of basic functions in Word (spell check, formatting, saving their file,etc). They should also have an understanding of uploading a file into the virtual campus and accessing a zip file as those are sometimes used.
The virtual campus still seems a mystery for some students and I can understand why this might be an issue in those first classes. Having an orientation to the LMS including the library is important. Additionally, a lab or a document they can refer to as a refresher is also a good idea.
I believe an online university can start the students off on the right foot by evaluating their readiness for the environment, and offering them resources to sharpen their technical skills before they take that first online class.
June,
Pretty much all online students need to know these skills. It's amazing sometimes what we take for granted that our students know and they don't. Having a place like "Frequently Asked Questions" for them to access when they need to know how to do something is helpful. This many times helps them not be overwhelmed if they know they have someplace to check for help. Thanks for your input.
June & Edna,
You bring up good points. It's a continual learning process. Keep on truckin'! ;-)
Edna, these skills are so important and not as overwhelming to learn as many students suppose. After taking 20 years off from teaching college to raise my children and to home school, I was shocked, upon returning, to see how much of teaching was computerized! I spent an hour with a librarian and from that point, thanks to family, practice, and tech support, I improved incrementally. I am still learning, though!
My students need to know how to browse web sites; how to edit, file, and upload documents; how to attach things to Discussion Boards; how to access live and archived chats; how to access library sites and advanced web searches for good sources; how to screen websites; how to use spell check;how to save to a drive, etc. My older student often feel overwhelmed at first, but most of them have the skills of persistence and hard work and do fine.
Joan,
So true. There are, what seem to be, simple technical skills that many people take for granted, but others cannot do. Making it clear to students as to what skills they need to have is essential. Nice job.
Laura,
You are right. I tell the students they need to do this and include it in the syllabus. If they cannot do it, they may fall behind, lose their work, etc. When I have the first live chat of the course, I open it 30 minutes early and tell students to go in and test their equipment so I don't take class time. Thanks for you input.
Nathan,
Right on. The instructor has to provide them with the tools (if needed) to do this, but there should be some basics the students should be able to do. I add those requirements in the ayllabus as well. Nice job.
Joan and Laura,
Thank you for continuing the conversation. I love that the instructors taking this course feel comfortable building community and sharing with each other. It's so important here and in your own courses.
Hello Laura,
I agree that students need to understand how to use a web camera or microphone. Many of students do not know anything about this. The more they interact with their peers the more they retain from the class.
Joan
I think there are many technical skills that online students must use. The first is downloading a file. If they have a difficult time with this they will have a difficult time with other aspects of the online environment. I also think a student must know how to search the internet for credible resources. I always try to explain that students need to have an understanding of what is personal and what has been reviewed is essential.
There are many technical skills that are important for online students to possess.
Students should be able to navigate their operating system (Windows or Mac), and use files and folders effectively.
Students should also be able to use a web browser and be able to upload files to the course website.
Students may also need to understand how to use a microphone and/or web camera if live chats will take place during the course .
Students need to be able trouble shoot basic software problems. They need to be able to use basic features like spell check. They need to be able to zip a file. They need to be able to use the web to research viable topics. All of these skills, even at a basic form, will help them succeed.
Edna,
Yes, your first sentence says to much. I like that you use a diagnostic quic to help students identify their skills and to provide you with that information. That helps you understand how quickly you may cover material and what issues to expect as the course progresses. Thanks!
Gayle,
Right on! Students must know where the information is, how to communicate, how frequently to expect you to eommunicate and organize their thought, projects, etc. to be successful. Time management and priority management are important skills to have. Thanks!
Students must be able to successfully navigate and find information on both the internet and our LMS; they must be able to organize their files properly for efficient saving and retrieving of documents; and they must be familiar with basic computer concepts such as copy/paste, open/save, upload/download, installing plugins, etc.
To become a successful online student, careful consideration must be given to work habits and learning style, computer requirements and the level of technical skills needed before enrolling in an online class. The skills that I see as important for my online students are:
• Feel comfortable using a computer operating system
• Feel comfortable using the Internet
• Ability to perform basic functions such as maximizing and minimizing Windows; familiarity with using the browser functions.
• Copy and paste information
• Save information
• Working with files such as creating, saving and uploading to a dropbox
• Have the basic knowledge of sending and receiving emails
• Use word processing software
• Ability to login in to an LMS
• Take a quiz online
Letting students know what skills are needed to learn in an online environment is key to their success. While not every student will enter school as a novice computer user, identifying the needs of students before entering the program, will do great service for them. This will help them to identify strengths and weaknesses and with the help of the instructor, provide ways for improvement.
