Technology Skills We Hope Students Have at the Start of an Online Class and How to Help Them

We would like to believe our students know how to use the computer and navigate the Course Management System but we cannot be sure of that unless we teach in a class that is beyond beginner level in an institution with many online courses. We may need to help students by explicitly stating where to find information in our courses. Some teachers have a “Treasure  Hunt” or “Scavenger Hunt” so that students will know where material is located. Others find that a required, low stakes, short quiz on the Syllabus is necessary.

It is a good idea for online teachers to TAKE an online class before they teach one. Being a student gives teachers a good idea of what student face. Teachers should be prepared to help students with class navigation, but any institution with online courses should have technical help, and this help should be staffed fully the first few weeks of classes. 

We hope students can compose, spell check and save files in a Word Processor.  They may not all use Word, however, and may need help in learning to save in .rtf format. We might expect them, depending on the class, to be able to open PowerPoint files and, if they do not have PowerPoint to be able to download the PowerPoint viewer. Some classes require students to use a Spreadsheet. If this is a requirement the students need to know at the start of the class.

Any special software used in the class should be explained to the students before they register for the class. It is not fair to the students to sign into a class and find they need to purchase an expensive piece of software.  

We hope our students realize that a college class is formal learning and the language in the class is academic writing. They may not know this and need to be told. They may also need to be reminded that discussions in the course require respect for others. They may also need to be reminded of the institution’s policy on plagiarism and cheating. Just because the class is online this policy does not change.

To help students succeed we need to give them the information that they need and assume nothing.