Custom student support
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REVISION IN PROGRESS: This article contains useful information, but is being revised to reflect recent updates. Direct questions to TLT (tlt@winona.edu). |
About this article
This article includes a description of the custom student support service offered by WSU Teaching, Learning, and Technology Services (TLT). It is intended for instructors who are integrating technology-enabled activities into their courses that might require student training.
What is custom student support?
Technology has the potential to streamline and enhance various individual and collaborative student learning activities that many instructors include in their courses already (e.g., classroom discussions, group projects). It also offers opportunities to implement new student learning activities that were difficult or impossible to manage previously. For many instructors, there are two major impediments to implementing technology-enhanced student learning activities: choosing the tools that best fit their instructional goals and training their students to use them. For example, an instructor who wants to include a collaborative video production project into her course may not know what video editing tool to select. She may choose one that she saw at a conference or that a colleague is using, but is that the best tool for her specific application and is that tool supported by the university? Moving forward with a tool that is a poor fit or allowing students to choose their own tool may be problematic. Once a good tool is selected, how will students learn to use it? TLT's custom student support service addresses both of these impediments. We work with you to find the best tools for your specific activity and ensure that these tools are supported fully throughout the term. We also deliver effective and timely technology training for your students designed to meet the specifications of your activity, removing that responsibility from your shoulders. This might include online training, hands-on training sessions held either during or outside class time, just-in-time technical support or some combination of training options.
Students helping students
After working with our professional TLT staff to select tools and develop a training plan, our talented students working in the e-Warrior Digital Learning Commons (DLC) will begin supporting your students and delivering training. The DLC is located on the first floor of the Darrell W. Krueger Library. DLC students are TLT student workers under the supervision of TLT's Char Gorak, Student Professional Development Coordinator.
Working with faculty
The DLC staff work with faculty to assess the programming needs, design curriculum to meet these needs, and deliver curriculum created to assure students are prepared to succeed on these projects. With over seven years worth of custom student support projects under our belts we feel strongly that our DLC STARS can provide the technical and professional programming you need so to support your students on class projects.
How do we do this?
DLC staff meet with faculty in a short meeting to review the programming needs, identify the role our DLC STARS will play in this programming, and what technologies students will use. We have a variety of different way to deliver this programming. Our professional development often is in the form of online resources and classroom workshops, but we have conducted many hybrid professional development programs where components are offered in class while other areas of the curriculum are online. Below are some examples of both online, classroom, and hybrid programs we typically build for faculty.
Online
We have great resources that can be customized specifically for you projects that allow a student to learn how to use the tools and techniques you want all online at any time.
- One of these resources is Lynda. This resource is a subscription library of over 10,000 online courses taught by industry experts covering a wide variety of software tools and skills. We can help you find the right courses for your class project and even build playlist designed to meet your exact needs for your specific projects.
- WSU Knowledge Base Wiki. We have many articles on our WSU Knowledge Base Wiki to assist students with their technology needs. We are also able to create new articles requested for special projects.
Classroom
- A DLC STAR can come into your classroom for a scheduled one hour session. During this session we can cover the technology that is needed for your project.
Hybrid Professional Development
When we work with a faculty over several semesters we find they are more comfortable with having a class receive a quick introduction to the technology so that they can start using the tool, but less class-time is spent button pushing. In these hybrid professional development project we tend to extensive experience working with the challenges students face as they use the tool and best meeting the specific project goals you have.
Previous Custom Support
- DLC Spring 2014 Class Projects
- DLC Fall 2014 Class Projects
- DLC Spring 2015 Class Projects
- DLC Fall 2016 Class Projects
- DLC Spring 2017 Class Projects
- DLC Fall 2017 Class Projects