1. Online Learning:
Try it – You might like it!
Dennis White, Smart Start Program Coordinator
Linda Hubble, Senior Instructional Designer
Lisa Stepanovic, Senior Instructional Designer
2. How is taking your first online course
like visiting Mall of America?
4. Ten Factors Affecting Retention in
Online Courses
1. Support services
2. Early submission of work with instructor feedback
3. Clearly stated student expectations before & throughout course
4. Student orientation
5. Relevancy and accuracy of course content and design
6. Faculty preparedness
7. Student locus of control
8. Age of students
9. Student participation
10. Social integration into cohort and peer-to-peer support
*K. Shanley, 2011
5. Student Orientation
• It’s important that students have an
opportunity to experiment with the tools and
technology required for the class before the
critical elements of the class are introduced.
6. Idea:
What if students learn the technical skills
and decide if online learning is a fit for them
before they sign up for an online course!
7. What We Did at STLCC
• Integrated an online learning experience into
our Smart Start Student Success course.
• Three components:
1. Course Navigation tutorial
2. Blackboard Orientation
3. Online Learning Week
8. Purpose of Smart Start Student Success
• The Smart Start Student Success course is
designed to enhance students’ knowledge,
behaviors, and skills needed for successful
transition to college.
9. Who Are Smart Start Students?
• Those who test into Developmental Reading
and/or English – co-requisite requirement
• Anybody else – optional
• Academic probation – per counselor
recommendation
10. Smart Start
274 Sections since F12
6,268 students
Course Themes
Know Yourself
Know Your Environment
Plan, Monitor & Adjust
Online Experience
•Piloted Spring 2013
•Rolled out to all sections
Fall 2013
11. Why We Added an Online Component
• 45% of all students will take at least one online
course.
• Nearly all instructors use an LMS to some extent.
• Using technology is critical to college success.
• Provides a “low stakes” opportunity to be an online
student.
• Helps students decide whether online courses might
be a good fit for them.
12. Smart Start Technology Skill Acquisition
•
•
•
•
•
•
Week 1 – Begin LMS orientation
Week 2 – Take first online quiz
Week 3 – Monitor grades and feedback
Week 5 – Submit an assignment online
Week 7 – Participate in an online discussion
Week 9 – Online Learning Experience
13. Online Learning Experience
Module Design
•
•
•
•
Use existing Blackboard On-Demand videos
Supplement with STLCC-specific information
Not just button-pushing, but contextualized
Addresses common problems
24. Student Participation Options
• independently off-campus
• independently from locations on campus (labs,
library, own laptops); instructor on campus
during scheduled class time
• in a computer classroom with instructor;
request help as needed
25. I like online class
es because it
gives me time to
concentrate and
have more unde
rstanding.
I could access the
information and
assignments anywhere
– I loved it!
. I learn better
nd it challenging
I fi
rson helping
ith a physical pe
w
me.
Student Feedback
Loved the flexibility,
interaction and the
plan layout.
I liked the discussion
board the most. It was a
good way to
communicate.
Keeping up with the
online conversations
during the week was
challenging.
If I knew
h ow t o t
ype
faster, it
would h
elp me
with the
assignm
ents.
I can tell
it re
of readin quires a lot
g and I h
reading. ate
26. Some of my stu
dents decided to
try online classe
s; others decided
online wasn’t fo
r them.
My students were somewhat
frustrated with their online
experience, but reflecting on
it later, they thought they
might try an online class.
Instructor Feedback
Students adapted
easily to the online
class experience; I
hardly received any
calls.
My stud
ents
Smart St felt like their
a
prepared rt experience
them for
online cla a future
ss.
Many pe
ople assu
tradition
al studen me that
t s “kn
technolo
gy, but th ow” the
ey really
don’t.
27. Expanding the Idea
• Integrate Smarter Measures tool
• Orientation for all students before they
register for an online course
• Smart Start 100 course- college-ready students
• Additional technology orientations:
– Student email
– Banner; midterm & final grades, financial aid
{"27":"Linda/Dennis\n","16":"Lisa\nContains six modules -- Discussion Board not shown.\nLesson 1 – A large percentage of student problems are related to their computer setup – browser, plug-ins, operating systems. Empower students to learn about and maintain their systems. \n","5":"How important is a student orientation?\n","22":"Students not understanding how the instructor set up the test. \n","11":"Dennis\n1. Students Taking Online Courses Jumps 96 Percent over 5 Years from 23 percent to 45, over the last five years\n06/24/13\nSource: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/06/24/report-students-taking-online-courses-jumps-96-percent-over-5-years.aspx\n","28":"Ideas:\nCourse menu orientation – screen demo or document\n","17":"Lisa\nEach lesson consists of explanation, demo, practice and a quiz. All in preparation for online week.\nLesson 2 is about Blackboard navigation in general – content frame, icons, folders, breadcrumb trail.\n","6":"Linda\n","23":"Lisa\nStudents have already had a little practice with the tools. This week they put it all together. \nTopic is personal health and wellness – lends itself to online learning.\nAssignments\nDiscussion Board\nReading and Quiz\nInstructor guide\nDefault assignment criteria – can change\nMultiple assignments for instructors to choose from, depending on student’s skill level.\n","12":"Linda\nThe online orientation process begins day 1 of class…..\nCourse Navigation tutorial\nStudents complete the LMS lessons in a sequence that corresponds to the type of assignments they complete.\nDuring week 1 they are becoming familiar with the course requirements and expectations and so the orientation lessons include an introduction to how they can check if their computer system will work with Blackboard, how to navigate the Blackboard interface and how to take an online quiz.\nThen it walks them through the interface of the My Grades display in Blackboard.\nThey finish the orientation with lessons about submitting an assignment online and participating in an online discussion right at midterm.\nThe online learning experience is scheduled for the week after midterms and the assignments are designed with only the tools included in the orientation. By the middle of the semester, the class has developed a sense of community, so using the social tools like the DB should feel more comfortable to them (vs. taking place early in the semester). \nLisa will explain more specifics about the online module design and demo a couple of our lessons.\n","1":"Self-introductions\n","18":"Lisa\nBb help videos are great, but they show things working. We have supplemented this by addressing typical problems that occur and how to resolve them \nShow video clip – slide 8. \n","7":"Linda\n","24":"Linda, Dennis\n","13":"Lisa\nWe didn’t want to recreate the wheel, but rather enhance what currently exists. Bb has a number of help videos, but just pointing students to these resources can be overwhelming, so we created a lesson “wrapper” that is customized for our system and includes student practice.\nInterface differences between Bb videos and our Bb system – some students cannot make the connection between how it looks in the videos vs. STLCC’s system. It’s the same, but it’s all different.\nThe Bb videos focus on how to do things correctly, not what to do if things go wrong. We wanted to present some of the “oh-no” scenarios, too.\nOnline learning experience materials were copied into all sections of STR 050. \n","2":"Overwhelming\nDon’t know where to start\nEasy to get lost\nWithout a map, you are left to wander\n","19":"Lisa\nTest taking module uses Bb on-demand video. This video shows how things are supposed to work. \nWe have supplemented this with our own information. \n","8":"Dennis\n","25":"LDH, DW\nI like online classes because it gives me time to concentrate and have more understanding.\nI could access the information and assignments anywhere – I loved it!\nLoved the flexibility, interaction and the plan layout.\nI liked the discussion board the most. It was a good way to communicate.\nI don’t like online classes. I like to get up and go to school and meet people.\nIf I knew how to type faster, it would help me with the assignments.\nKeeping up with the online conversations during the week was challenging.\nI find it challenging. I learn better with a physical person helping me.\nAll of these comments are valuable because the students are able to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses.\nAt some point in their program, they will probably take an online class and recognizing what their challenges might be allows them to seek out resources for support\n","14":"Lisa\nSTR 050 Menu – standard across sections. \nIn other courses, instructors can create whatever menu structure they wish, so students have to learn how to navigate each course they take.\nEach course a student enters can feel like walking in to Mall of America. \nEmpower students to explore the course to get a lay of the land.\nEach video is closed-captioned.\nShow clip \n","3":"Lisa\nEven lower at CC\nWhat are some reasons for this?\n","20":"Most problems that occur with tests seem to be related to:\n- What the student does before taking the test. Non-secure wireless connection, double-clicking, multiple windows\n","9":"Dennis\nThe profile presented here might be different from that of institutions for which there are admissions requirements.\nYou might not have developmental courses, but how many of you offer a student success course?\nNational trends:\nMajority of Community Colleges have designed practices for student success; CCCSE, Center for Community College and Student Engagement\nCommunity College Research Center \n- 1,000 institutions surveyed, 87 percent of participating colleges offered a first-year seminar (Padgett & Keup, 2011 in report “College 101”)\n","26":"LH, DW\nThese comments are generalized from feedback sessions conducted with instructors during the first two semesters.\nSome of my students decided to try online classes; others decided online wasn’t for them.\nStudents adapted easily to the online class experience; I hardly received any calls.\nMy students felt like their Smart Start experience prepared them for a future online class.\nMany people assume that traditional students “know” the technology, but they really don’t. They understand and use technology socially, not necessarily productively or academically.\nMy students were somewhat frustrated with their online experience, but reflecting on it later, they thought they might try an online class.\n","15":"Lisa\nMenu item\nInstructor’s guide\n","4":"Lisa\nKevin Shanley (Utah State): Meta-analysis of current research identified these top ten factors. Our project touches on the factors in orange, primarily the student orientation.\n","21":"While taking the test – opening test before ready to take it, double-clicking, \n","10":"Dennis\n"}
