Supporting Online Students

From CCVWiki

While the role of instructor is clearly very important in the online classroom, so is the role of student support staff, be that academic advisors, tech support or the library.

Back in 2004, Ann Schroeder, CCV Public Services Librarian and I (Victoria Matthew), Academic Coordinator and Online Instructor, worked together to figure out how to provide meaningful library instruction to online students. What resulted was the Embedded Librarian Program. Ann was "embedded" inside various discussion forums in my class and answered questions students posed about the research and development of their mid-semester and end-of-semester research papers. Ann also posted handy tips, which included brainstorming topics and citing in APA format. The program was such a success that it was rolled out to all online instructors the following semester.

Since that time Ann and I have presented this topic at NERCOMP 2006. To view the slideshow, please visit http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=NCP0668

I will be presenting on this topic at Educause 2006 and here's the pdf of the slideshow for that conference Media:EmbedLibV2.pdf.
--Tori 13:43, 5 October 2006 (EDT)

Understanding the Characteristics of Successful Online Learners

It became clear to me by the end of this course that understanding the characteristics of successful online learners is very important. How can I as a facilitator with that knowledge convey the importance of self-reflection and self-evaluation to students when they are considering whether an online course is appropriate? There are two strategies that I believe will be essential for supporting students whom are new to online learning, as well as ensuring that I am sensitive and responsive as an instructor.

First, I do believe that having an orientation beforehand is critical. The orientation must include not only the technical skills, but should delve into the broader considerations around personal qualities that promote success in the online learning environment.

Second, I believe it is critical as an instructor to gather as much information as possible about the learning needs of the students prior to the course beginning. This would enable you to adapt the course to meet the needs of the students which would promote a more relevant and positive learning experience. I am a firm believer in the use of Learning Needs Resource Assessment, a tool promoted by practitioners of Dialogue Education. An “LNRA” is a type of survey or protocol for gathering information about student background, needs, concerns, goals etc. It establishes a profile of the student and allows you to customize your course based on the learning needs the students have articulated. It also becomes a powerful way to engage students prior to the first class.

Using both of these techniques to engage students prior to the start of a course, will contribute to the greater likelihood that the students will be more prepared, more invested and more committed to their online learning experiences.

~Colby Kervick

The need for Orientation in Online Coursework

This experience with the online teaching course made me think about another experience I had in the field of education. When I worked with community-based learning courses, there were a variety of concepts I needed to individually address with students taking the courses, because the information about community-based learning was excluded from class meetings. I struggled to support students understand and integrate the multiple layers of educational practice that were taking place in their coursework. It makes sense when I think about it, because a community-based learning economics course has economics as its focal point. The community component, as it seems to be viewed by many instructors, is an additional opportunity to engage students in an application of the topic. It is not an opportunity to teach students about community-based learning. This is why we had an economics department and a community-based learning department with two people working on different aspects of the class. I worked on the field aspect and the instructor worked on the economic theory discussed in classroom sessions. Without engaging students in discussions about community-based learning though, students may not understand the commitment they are making to a community organization or recognize the true interdisciplinary nature of the course, which could lead to deeper reflective practice for the student and the teacher. As I reflect back on this course and refer specifically to the readings for this final week, I realize that once again, I am faced with coursework that introduces multiple layers of educational practice. In order for me to have been more successful in this course, it would have been helpful to have at least had an orientation to online learning. While reading about orientations for online learning for the online teaching course challenged me to think about what I would do in my own class, I think it would have benefited my learning to have experienced it, as we did with so many other activities in the class. I see this as a time when students who had taken online courses or taught online courses before would have provided a great deal of leadership and insight into the process. Too often, I think we take for granted that by the year 2006, everyone has at least used a computer if not owned one and that learning is learning whether it is online or face to face. While much of the learning process is transferable, some of it is not. As instructors and higher education administrators, we are learning more and more about supporting the needs of students in all types of coursework. Just as teaching students how to use the computer is important, it is important to teach students about learning in new educational environments. An orientation provides students with a framework for an online learning process which may provide more relevancy and immediacy for their individual learning. Getting beyond these assumptions and taking the time to provide an orientation to online learning and generate discussion about the need or rationale for it might help us to be better learners, teachers, and build a more supportive and respectful online learning community.

Kelly Strunk