On a late-October day, Natasha Boskic (Faculty of Education), Lee Ann Bryant (UBC Library), Emily Renoe (Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology), and Cindy Underhill (Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology) participated in a Teaching and Learning with Technology session entitled “Orientation to Learning Online: Free for the Taking.”
The four panelists walked through the Orientation to Learning Online website, which has been developed to give students and instructors a valuable resource to learning online. Discussion revolved around the benefits of collaboration and content-sharing in the context of UBC’s Orientation website, and ways in which faculty and students can make use of its content.
The Orientation to Learning Online website was created because instructors teaching online courses often found themselves spending a lot of time helping students get accustomed to online learning – taking away time that could be spent teaching. Although many students are tech savvy online communicators – using online systems like facebook, instant messenger, and weblogs – many are not prepared for the online learning environments at UBC. Natasha noted that learners taking online courses with the Faculty of Education have a wide range of technical knowledge. Some are brand new to online learning, while others are more technologically savvy. With this in mind, the Orientation website is designed for both new and experienced online learners, helping them become accustomed to the online learning experience. Learners need to know where to find resources, how to navigate their way around online course webpages, and what it means to be an online learner.
The Faculty of Education’s External Programs and Learning Technologies (EPLT) and the UBC Library are collaborating with the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) in building this useful resource, and early evidence shows that many students are using the Orientation website. The Orientation to Learning Online website is opened up 2 weeks prior to the start of each semester, with students automatically populated to the site once they enroll in an CTLT or EPLT online course. This allows students plenty of time to familiarize themselves with the online learning environment before they start their course. In any given semester, about 1/3 of CTLT learners and 2/3 of EPLT learners access the Orientation website, using this resource to become better accustomed to online learning. Though the majority of learners access the site in late August – early September, many still refer to the site throughout the length of the semester. This speaks volumes about the usefulness of this resource, as the website allows learners to go in and access what they need, when they need it.
Just a few years back, before the Orientation website was up, it was often common for UBC help desk staff to field hundreds of emails and calls seeking technical support for online courses. Now, since the launch of the Orientation to Learning Online website in 2004, Emily has found that only a handful students seek additional help. Not only has the website reduced helpdesk issues, but it has also enabled students to become better accustomed to and to feel more comfortable navigating the online learning environment.
Designed in a WebCT format, to encourage students to explore the navigational structure of a real course and to learn more about the functions of WebCT, the Orientation website is a self-directed website. It contains 6 short modules which show learners the different resources that are available, an introduction to using WebCT, and step-by-step practice activities which allow learners to try out the different functions of WebCT (such as posting to a discussion board or submitting a test assignment). The website also has a few audio files and a discussion area, which add a nice human touch.
Cindy pointed out that one of the criticisms of WebCT is that it is incredibly hard to take information out of WebCT, and use it on an external website. Since users must login to access WebCT, content stored solely on WebCT cannot be accessed by outside users. A potential solution to this problem is to develop content on an external site, and use RSS to feed the content into WebCT. RSS can be used to import automatically updated information from one or more websites (such as news stories and research articles) right onto a course webpage, without having to visit any of the sites individually. With RSS, whenever content is updated on one webpage, all other webpages that have a RSS feed will be updated. For course instructors, RSS is a valuable tool which can allow them to keep their WebCT course webpage up-to-date.
Lee Ann likens RSS to a cat door. When a cat wants to go outside, it scratches at the door until someone lets it out. The cat has to bother someone before it gets what it wants. A cat door, on the other hand, allows the cat to come and go as it pleases, without having to bother anybody. Prior to using RSS, if Lee Ann wanted to bring library resources into a WebCT course, she had to send the content to an CTLT course developer, who would then have to cut and paste the material into WebCT. With RSS, Lee Ann can now update the content herself on an external website, and this content will be automatically updated on any course website that has the RSS feed. Lee Ann uses a blogger account where she posts new information about library resources. By creating a new post on her blog, she will automatically send new information to WebCT courses – all without having to cut and paste any material, or having to get someone else to update the content on multiple WebCT course websites.
With the use of RSS, Emily pointed out that the Orientation to Learning Online website now derives about 50% of its content from external sources (such as Lee Ann’s blog). This has dramatically reduced the amount of content published on the Orientation website, and has ensured that the content on the site is up-to-date!
This valuable resource has been helping hundreds of students become accustomed to online learning over the past few years, and is the first resource that online learners should refer to if ever they need help. For more information, or if you would like access to the Orientation to Online Learning website, please contact Emily Renoe, Course Technologies Training and Support Liaison, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, at emily.renoe@ubc.ca or call 604-822-0836.