Virtual Advising: A Foundation for Success

Start

1-31-2019 1:30 PM

End

1-31-2019 2:45 PM

Short Description

Effective and engaging course design and delivery is vital to a successful student experience, but is just one factor in the total equation. True success requires a strategy for staying on pace and knowing what is coming ahead. A virtual advising center can give your students a stronger connection to the institution and set out a clear path to graduation. Join in a discussion to learn and share best practices in online advising and orientation.

Abstract

This session will focus on creating an effective virtual advising center for online programs; while most applicable to higher education, all attendees who use online training/orientation could not only benefit from the session, but also contribute useful insights.

The session will demonstrate the effectiveness of orientation as related to students’ suitability for online learning (pre-enrollment) and retention (post-enrollment); identify methods of using tools in the LMS to engage the student with the program, their cohort, and the LMS itself; describe content that is vital to immediate/early orientation, and explain what of that content must carry through ongoing advising; list essential elements to consider when building a virtual advising center; and explore best practices from other institutions/organizations through open discussion.

My programs at UF show greater success and retention rates from students who complete pre-enrollment orientation, which connects the students to each other to immediately break down the potential isolation distance learners may feel, provides an interactive platform through which to learn about key university and program policies, and remains a site that students can access for “just in time” information throughout their degree.

Whereas residential students can drop into various campus offices for service, distance students are often left to navigate myriad websites searching for answers. Our virtual advising center compiles all of these resources into one location, and explains best practices for effective communication with campus-based offices that are sometimes unaware of the distinct needs of distance learners.

As the developer and manager of our virtual advising center, I will share my experiences of building these sites, and how ongoing maintenance and regular updating of information can be handled quickly. The initial time investment in creating these sites now makes them easy to update term-by-term, allowing time to answer more in-depth student questions and concerns while still providing them thorough service.

Format

Concurrent Session

Institutional level targeted

Higher Ed

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Jan 31st, 1:30 PM Jan 31st, 2:45 PM

Virtual Advising: A Foundation for Success

This session will focus on creating an effective virtual advising center for online programs; while most applicable to higher education, all attendees who use online training/orientation could not only benefit from the session, but also contribute useful insights.

The session will demonstrate the effectiveness of orientation as related to students’ suitability for online learning (pre-enrollment) and retention (post-enrollment); identify methods of using tools in the LMS to engage the student with the program, their cohort, and the LMS itself; describe content that is vital to immediate/early orientation, and explain what of that content must carry through ongoing advising; list essential elements to consider when building a virtual advising center; and explore best practices from other institutions/organizations through open discussion.

My programs at UF show greater success and retention rates from students who complete pre-enrollment orientation, which connects the students to each other to immediately break down the potential isolation distance learners may feel, provides an interactive platform through which to learn about key university and program policies, and remains a site that students can access for “just in time” information throughout their degree.

Whereas residential students can drop into various campus offices for service, distance students are often left to navigate myriad websites searching for answers. Our virtual advising center compiles all of these resources into one location, and explains best practices for effective communication with campus-based offices that are sometimes unaware of the distinct needs of distance learners.

As the developer and manager of our virtual advising center, I will share my experiences of building these sites, and how ongoing maintenance and regular updating of information can be handled quickly. The initial time investment in creating these sites now makes them easy to update term-by-term, allowing time to answer more in-depth student questions and concerns while still providing them thorough service.