T-I-P-STechnology Instruction Program for Students

Episode II: The Evolution of the Applications Help desk

Presented byRaphael Web

SUNY at Oneonta

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAST YEAR AND NOW…..AT A GLANCE

I: Instructional Methods

Summer, 2007

• Almost 100 percent student led workshops

• (Almost) NO more guest lectures

• Still searching for online solutions that work for us

Summer, 2006

• Few student led workshops

• Many more guest lectures than I could handle

• Searching for online solutions that work for us

II: Applications Support List

Summer, 2007

• Microsoft Office 2007

• Dreamweaver MX and 2008

• Angel?

Summer, 2006

• Microsoft Office 2003

• FrontPage 2003• Adobe Photoshop

II: Faculty Participation

Summer, 2007

• 10 faculty members committed to working with TIPS

Summer, 2006

• 4 faculty members committed to working with TIPS

AND SO THIS IS HOW THINGS CHANGED…….

Guest Lectures: The Problem

• Guest Lectures were killing me

– Too many faculty were asking for guest lectures– I once did nine for one professor in THREE days– These faculty were not sending students to our

desk for extra support….– So I was doing most of the work, and not my

student staff

So……

Guest Lectures: The Resolution

• We stopped the Guest Lectures altogether in the Spring Semester

– We replaced the Guest Lectures with Students Led Workshops

– To handle the workload, we reduced the number of topics we presented….just for this Spring

– Some Faculty were disappointed. Others signed right on…..

Guest Lectures: The Verdict

• Guest Lectures will (almost) be gone this year• Almost, because some classes will need guest

lectures:

– Very large classes with too many students to reasonably schedule workshops

– Faculty who insist that the instruction take place during class time…..with no staff to teach except me

– I make the final decision to do a Guest Lecture

Student Led Workshops: The Challenge

• Scheduling

– Faculty wanted us to schedule workshops during their class times: Impossible to reconcile

– My staff could not always be there– We did some negotiating…….

AND……

Student Led Workshops: The Resolution

• Workshops were scheduled for late in the afternoon….

– All were held between 4 pm and 5 pm– Most students involved were able to make it– Multiple duplicate sessions: If you can’t make

one, come to the other– Students who couldn’t come just came to our desk

Student Led Workshops:The Challenges

• Topics Covered

– Too many students + enough staff (3) = too many topics to cover

– Faculty still wanted students to get the right amount of instruction

– We did some negotiating and wrangling…….

IN THE END……

Student Led Workshops:The Resolution

• Topics Covered

– Faculty agreed, for the Spring Semester, to limit workshops to three agreed upon topics each:

– For Example: • Dreamweaver: Start a site; Layout Tables; insert

multimedia• Excel: IF functions; Pivot Tables; Lists

– Students then came to our desk for support on additional topics

Student Led Workshops:The Verdict

• Definitely to be continued and increased

• Scheduling and Topics Covered:

– Pre-scheduled workshops on Tuesdays and Fridays of each week

– Each workshop will cover one or two topics– 30 minutes each, for easy digestibility– Students will still come to our desk for support on

additional topics

Computer Based Instruction:The Challenges

• CD-ROM Issues

– We tried Training CD-ROMS from CustomGuide, but students never used them

– Limited access to CD-ROMS: Licenses and locations– Constantly changing nature of apps means new

training software continually needs to be purchased– We did some thinking…..

AND……

Computer Based Instruction:The Ideas

• Possible solutions

– Podcasting: Instructional material on an Ipod– Blogging: Instructional material on the campus

blog site– Creation of our own online instruction using video

and audio

Computer Based Instruction:Podcasting

• Questions as to whether students would use it or not

• How do you put reasonably high quality instruction on a Video Ipod?

• Not everyone owns a Video Ipod• Podcasting was back-burnered – needed to

stabilize the program first

Computer Based Instruction:Podcasting

• NOT ABANDONED

– Definitely something we’ll look at in the future

Computer Based Instruction:Home Grown Online Instructional Material

• What software to use?– Camtasia Studio– Microsoft PowerPoint– Microsoft Producer 2003 (free and GREAT)

• I mostly used Producer 2003 – a very good all in one solution– Uses graphics, video, audio, AND does video

captures

Computer Based Instruction:Home Grown Online Instructional Material

• How to Create?

1. Create “script” for staff to dictate2. Videotape or audiotape staff3. Get screenshots4. Get video captures: Producer turns them into .WMV files5. Create the PowerPoint Presentation6. Import slides, graphics and videos into the timeline and

configure into an online presentation7. Sync the slides, graphics and captures to staff video/audio8. Publish files to web server9. Internet Explorer only

An Example

Computer Based Instruction:Home Grown Online Instructional Material

• Very Labor Intensive

– Approximately 5 days to completion because of the logistics of videotaping and getting all required material together

– Lots of topics means a great deal of work – To make it look really good, need the cooperation

of video department

– And the verdict is……….

See where this is going?……

Computer Based Instruction:Home Grown Online

Instructional Material – The Verdict

• ABANDONED, FOR NOW

– Maybe to be used as a special technique for specific faculty?

So What Now?

Computer Based Instruction:Home Grown Online

Instructional Material – Resolution

• No resolution just yet• We’re looking at purchasing online solutions

from:– CustomGuide– Microsoft MELL (Microsoft E-Learning Library)– Mindleaders

• No labor investment on our part, total access for students

Future Vision For TIPS

• Changes we know we’ll face:

– The move from Office 2003 to Office 2007– Significant imminent changes in the structure of our parent

department, Academic Computing Services– The need to support online portfolio features in Angel

(which may affect Dreamweaver support)

Future Vision For TIPS

• What we would like to see happen:

– Really ramp up the number of workshops– Introduce a truly high quality online support

solution– Begin to introduce podcasting – Increase our Application Support List– Continue to get more faculty to work with TIPS

and bring students our way for support