Friday, August 24, 2007

Questions on getting students started on Catalyst

Question 1.
I think students in on-line classes have an orientation that Distance Learning prepared for them to learn Catalyst. I'm wondering if it's worthwhile for instructors to also have some kind of "Getting Started" page that shows students how to work with the material set up for their class? For example, two of the very basic tasks that my students would need to know for the class to flow smoothly are: 1. Allow their browsers to accept pop-up windows and 2. Use control-v (in Windows) to paste text into the web page that Catalyst provides, since the "paste" menu option doesn't work. Is this type of knowledge so basic that most students know that already or is it worth it for me to type something up, or is this information already available somewhere?

Question 2.
During the quarter, when students have Catalyst-type questions to which I don't know the answer, where is a good resource to direct them?

Question 3.
Since I require students to show up on-campus for exams, if they cannot make it during the scheduled time, is it Instructional Testing or Distance Learning who proctor the exam? Also, most on-line classes that I know schedule on-campus exams in the evening. Is this common practice or is it a requirement at De Anza?

2 comments:

  1. Hi Clare,

    Greetings, it is good to "see" you here.

    My thoughts on question 1 are that a "getting started" page would be an excellent idea. I think getting oriented in a new environment can be challenging and anything to make it easier would improve retention. It seems better to assume at least some folks will be at a basic level and will appreciate the hand holding. Experienced users can skip over what they don't need.

    Question 3.
    For questions about Instructional Testing you might want to check with Lydia Heard or Wayne Chenoweth. As president of the Senate last Spring Lydia really resurrected the testing center. However, Wayne is now the president and he may have taken over that duty.

    --Scott

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  2. During the quarter, when students have Catalyst-type questions to which I don't know the answer, where is a good resource to direct them?

    Distance Learning Tech Support - usually Mary Parke is available to answer student questions.

    I ask students to post their questions in the Questions? forum that I have setup in my course. If I can answer the questions, I do. Sometimes other students can answer. As a last resort, I pass the question along to Distance Learning Support. That way, when the answer comes back, I can be sure its is shared with the class.

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