Online courses have been quite popular at the college level, and that is true here at GCC as well. Our online enrollment in many recent semesters has been the only growth, and even surpasses the enrollment at North and Communiversity combined. There are a lot of students taking online classes, but many of them are ill prepared and/or take online classes for all the wrong reasons. As a result retention and success rates for many online students is low. There is a counterbalance to this fact. According to Hanie (2014), “orientation can give students a sense of what online learning entails – and maybe even help improve class performance.” By requiring ecourses students to take an online orientation, we can help improve their chances of doing well in these classes.
The new eCourses Student Orientation was designed in Canvas this past year and is now available for students. It’s a free online getting started orientation for students. The course is designed to:
- Help students determine if online/hybrid learning is right for them.
- Give students tips and tricks to be successful in an online/hybrid environment.
- Acquaint students with the Canvas Learning Management System and other learning technologies.
- Provide students with quick access to help and support with your ecourses.
Feel free to enroll yourself and take a look at the orientation. It’s live, so it’s okay to send students to enroll now as well. If your students enroll and take the orientation, they will be instructed to print out their grades as proof of completion. The course will retain their grades as long as they stay enrolled in the orientation course.
