Does the ETUDES-NG Gateway - Training provide
students with the training that they will need in order to use the new
ETUDES-NG efficiently and effectively?
There is no training for students at this time. I know Vivie is planning
something for students in terms of how to use discussion & private messages.
That said, Etudes-NG is really a very student-user friendly program. I am
offering a course for my CC students using it now; they are managing very well
with almost no instruction in how to use the program. It really is very
intuitive.
The system is in use with thousands of students already and they jump right in
and use it. From the student side, it's very easy to use. They don't have the
authoring challenges and additional browser requirements that instructors have
due to content publishing and such.
Having said that, we plan on creating an orientation site on the software for
students. We've had this for ETUDES, though very few students go through it.
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The first best thing you can do for students is give them early access to your
course to browser around and get comfortable with your site.
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The second best thing you can do is not misuse the tools, so that as students
move from course to course, they know what to expect. In other words, since
there is an Assignments tool, please do not include assignments under Modules.
Use the Modules tool for lessons. That's just one example.
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Last but not least, do not enable too many tools on the left navigation bar.
It will only overwhelm your students as they wont' know where the REALLY
important information is. That was one of the major advantages of ETUDES. It
had a few core tools. Now, faculty can go crazy with all the cool tools
available at the expense of students. So, learn what each does and choose
those that add significant value to your teaching/learners.
1/5/06