Developing an effective online orientation training program for universities

¶ … Planning

Implementation

Evaluation/Revision

Implementation of any Revisions

List in order the five steps to developing an effective training program. Describe each step briefly, and how you would proceed to do each step to create the online orientation training.

What organization, job, and person level needs would need to be assessed to develop this training program?

What characteristics of the new online students might influence the effectiveness of this training program? Explain.

What would be your training objectives for this training program? List a minimum of 3. 5. How would you evaluate this training program to determine if it was successful? How could you determine if the objectives were achieved?

Developing an Online Training Program

Step one of the process is a needs assessment. The university should decide (a) what online platform it will use (b) what challenges a first time online student could and face and (c) anticipate all questions, concerns and fears of students. Using surveys, focus groups, collaborating with other colleges and universities that have used such learning platforms, can complete this. Step two involves the actual planning of the training program. The planning step involves "who, what, when and where" of the program. The planning of the actual training should be across departments (it, Undergrad, Graduate, etc.) in an effort to synthesize and use current learning models (theory and pedagogy) as well as the technical (it how to). Step three is the actual implementation of the training program. This could use targeted segments of student populations, faculty and staff of the university. By using smaller focus groups before rolling out the training on a larger scale allows for refinement and correction. This is step four, evaluation and revision. A training program of such magnitude should continually be evaluated, and improved upon. This could be accomplished through data analysis, student surveys and targeted interviews. Step five is the implementations of any improvements and corrections in the training process.

Players and Stakeholders

The key players in this process could not be more different: technical experts (it) and academic experts (departments, colleges and schools in the university). The academics have a clear vision of what the training program should encompass and the it experts possess the technical skills in facilitating such a process. Clearly, this must be a collaborative effort. For example, let's say the academic side of the team wants to use discussion board that incorporates online reading, YouTube videos as well as Social Networking. For the actual implementation of such an idea, it must be consulted, cajoled and consulted.

Online Students and Objectives

Online learners do not learn in a vacuum. Such learners must be disciplined to succeed in an online learning environment. Therefore, any online training program must carefully balance challenge with practicality. The experience should be interesting, engaging and a challenge. If the training is deemed to difficult, the learner could give up and participate halfheartedly. If the training is too easy, the learner could feel insulted and feel as if they were wasting their time and money. Therefore, the program designers walk a tightrope in the design and implementation of any training program. Perhaps one way to circumvent such scenarios is to actively consult and listen to students. Today's students are not passive consumers and learners. Indeed, they are consumers of education and demand to be edutained (and such a conversation is obviously beyond the scope of this paper).

Insofar as the objectives of the training program, they are:

1. Students will successfully complete the online training program in one week.

2. Students will pass an online assessment of their readiness for future online content delivery with a 70% or higher, or they will have to retake the training course.

3. Students will demonstrate proficiency in the proper technical skills to successfully navigate in an online learning environment.

Such objectives are measurable and also practical. The objectives are measurable in that students must score above 70% on an assessment that tests their knowledge as well as their technical proficiency. By using a clearly defined benchmark (70% or higher) coupled with a clear timeframe (one week) can help set students up for success. Students have a target to aim at and expectations that they will complete it on time. One challenge online programs face is the perception of being easier or somehow less rigorous than face-to-face classes. Therefore, having clearly defined objectives for the training program can help allay such claims.