Frances Cisneros Jenks
Senior Multimedia Specialist
Northwest Vista College

Jesse Diaz
Senior Multimedia Specialist
Northwest Vista College

Introduction

How can you provide a campus community with robust technical support for their online learners?  Many colleges do so by forming a Distance Learning Committee with a broad scope of responsibilities in the creation and implementation of a campus-wide Distance Learning Plan.

The Distance Learning Committee

The Distance Learning Committee should be diversely comprised of administrators, faculty, and staff to guide and direct the effort. The committee must decide what the overall mission and goals are for the Distance Learning Program and ensure that these are consistent with an Institution's mission and values. With particular regard to the technical support portion of the Distance Learning Plan, the committee will define what services, processes and protocols are needed by students accessing information online; determine what staff and technologies are needed to provide these services, and in doing so they will create the necessary jobs and outline individual roles; and, create/request/establish a budget and policy that reflects a commitment to the program.

Determining Services and/or Processes

The committee should consider what information systems and technology are currently available to the students and what systems/technology will be made available in the near future (near future meaning whatever timeframe the committee establishes for periodically reviewing services for changes/upgrades). Looking at each system or technology, the committee must establish the nature of the technical support that students will need.  The committee should develop a plan and timeline to determine what services should be offered as a first critical level of operations, and what services will be necessary in a second or, if necessary, a third stage, level, or phase.

Any consideration of technical support should take into consideration the institution’s existing online support services, as well as existing technical support services offered on campus. The strengths and weaknesses of the services should be evaluated to isolate areas that could be used or strengthened to provide a foundation for the technical support services needed online. To be effective, technical support personnel should work closely with staff involved with online student services in areas such as the library, campus book store, financial aid, and other student support departments.

Some of the  technical support services needed will be out of the scope of current resources with regards to staff, software/hardware tools, and budget.  Consideration should be given to alternatives, remembering that not all services must be provided internally. In order to evaluate whether or not it is more cost effective to outsource these services or provide them indigenously, a cost benefit analysis should be developed and implemented, along with some type of checklist, matrix, model, or form to be used as a guide. An example of this type of analysis is provided by Beyond the Administrative Core: Creating Web Based Student Services for Online Learners (2003).

Things to consider when evaluating the feasibility of building, buying, or partnering:

• Do we currently own or have access to staff with the necessary ability, and/or technology with the functionality to provide this service?
• Is there a possible partnership that will provide a solution?
• If building, what is the estimated development time, in hours?
• If buying, what additional costs are involved? Consider training, upgrades, maintenance, annual fees, and technical support.
• If buying, what is the scalability? Customizability? Usability? Reliability?
• Whether building, buying, or partnering is security a concern?

Finally, the priority order of any new services under consideration will need to be established.

It is a good idea to get input from all stakeholders to determine whether existing services are adequate or need improvement, and what new services are needed or desired. Faculty will be invited and encouraged to attend committee meetings. Student surveys can be conducted with the cooperation of the offices of Student: Services, Activities, Engagement, and/or Success. The expectation here is that the open communication and the implementation of surveys provide constructive feedback and prompt proposals that will ensure continued growth and overall ongoing process improvement.

Assessing Technical Needs

The Distance Learning Committee must ensure that the technologies used to deliver instruction are appropriate for students and curriculum while striving to assure a consistent technological framework. The policy process should assure that institutional instructional guidelines are met in this online environment with the appropriate technology to fulfill these guidelines.

Here are some important considerations when assessing technology needs:

• What are the minimum hardware and software requirements and are they practical?
• What forms of online interaction and communication will be encouraged or supported? (Ex: chat, email, Blogs, bulletin boards)
• Can/will we provide support for multiple platforms?
• Are we meeting ADA requirements?
• Are there any concerns regarding security? When and where?
• How will requests for specialized software be handled?
• What plug-ins and viewer downloads will be required?
• Is software licensing an issue?

Create Jobs and Define Roles

Questions to consider when creating jobs and identifying staff roles are:

• Who will provide leadership?
• Who will provide training?
• Who will provide the administrative/clerical support?
• Who will provide the end-user technical support?

In some cases this will be one multi-talented individual with a complex role and diverse responsibilities, but in others a dedicated member of staff will be necessary in each of these individual roles.

The Distance Learning initiative requires the committee to appoint a team leader, facilitator, project coordinator, or director to provide leadership. Although the skills and abilities will be dependant on the unique needs of each institution, this person should possess an overall understanding of technology while demonstrating the ability to be creative and innovative when facing limited resources.

The Distance Learning leader and team will advise and collaborate with the training staff to establish the baseline for minimum training requirements and objectives; develop a review procedure to evaluate the baseline; designate any changes or updates needed; and implement a process to adjust the training requirements accordingly. Technical support training should be conducted using a variety of media to allow for reasonable access with regard to ADA issues and technological restrictions such as low bandwidth or limited access to the Internet. Various types of presentation should be used to maximize attendance and allow for different learning styles. The best practice is to offer the user a variety of options for training: face-to-face sessions, printable materials, and an option for self-paced learning. Self-paced learning is also beneficial to those learners who may not need a review of the entire subject but one particular task or area of study. In this case, distribution of the materials into chapters, sections, or specific tasks is satisfactory.

The Distance Learning Committee will determine administrative and end-user support staffing and technology needs based on services determined to be required for a viable online technical support system.

Request Funds or Create a Budget

A budget must be in place in order to assure the acquisition of technology (both hardware and software) and staffing support. The budget must be sufficient to fulfill the minimum requirements of a viable online technical support system. The Committee will develop a long term budget plan that will take into consideration the processes, staffing, and technology needs of each service; determine where we are now as an enterprise; and map-out the direction that should be taken with future initiatives.

Promote Awareness

The Distance Learning Committee, in accordance with the technical support services leadership, will need to include a plan for promoting awareness of these online technical support services. Collaboration with the Public Relations department or an equivalent institutional area responsible for promotion of campus services and/or events should be a priority. The support of the entire college community is critical to assure success. Every opportunity must be taken advantage of to showcase these services to faculty, staff, and students accessing information online. Schedule time within the Student and/or Freshman Orientation sessions, Faculty Convocations, and Staff Development events to promote awareness, demonstrate services, and issue training schedules. Develop flyers, brochures, presentations, and electronic media of various types (CDs, emails, newsletters, and/or websites) to promote services offered.

Along the lines of promoting awareness, the committee should seek to incorporate the technical support module into the institution's existing online support services. Again, collaboration with Online Student Services offered through other institutional areas such as the Library/Media Services, Financial Aid, Admissions & Records, Campus Bookstore, Advising and/or Counseling is critical for the highest level of exposure to members of the campus and community. Student labs are another valuable resource for promoting student services.

Technology – The I. T. Connection

A web presence is essential for providing any service online. A Distance Learning website will serve as the gateway to contact information, a link to a simulated classroom environment, internal and external learning resources, and Help Desk support. To ensure proper/desirable usability and navigability all of the essential resources should have a link on the main page that provides access to online support and secondary resources listed in sub pages. Hyperlinking to established campus student services already provided online will foster increased cooperation between institutional resources.

Best practices in overall web design should be followed. For a quick look at some best practices, you can use Grantastic Design’s The 5 Basic Rules of Web Page Design and Layout or a little more in-depth look at best practices can be found at The Programmer in Black website. There is even a site for anyone wanting to know what NOT to do when designing your site. It’s called Web Pages that Suck.

More information on usability is available at Usability. A usability guide can also be found at The World Wide Web Consortium website with a shorter version found at All Things Web. Another good resource is  Usableweb.

Contact information should include any available operating hours, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and location information for designated support staff as well as faculty teaching online courses. Be sure to provide any building, room number, and maps where possible. Distance Learning course information can be included here or accessible via a link to the faculty, discipline, or other instructional webpage containing this information. Post a guide that is both easy to find and easy to read that tells who to contact, when (for what services), and how best to contact for expedited service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) should be made readily available to help the student do as much troubleshooting as possible before contacting technical support. This empowers the student as much as it helps free up the technical support assistance. Technical requirements and the opportunity to submit your troubleshooting tips should be available here. In cases where FAQ's are plentiful, using categories, an index, or search features will save time and curb frustration.

Both internal and external technical resources available should be utilized to create the best possible online technical support service. Also, on this website should be links to related online support services available from the institution (for example, Library/Media Services, Financial Aid, Admissions & Records, the Bookstore, Advising and/or Counseling) with a summary of the online services each provides.

Investigate external resources to cover or enhance those needs your institution is currently lacking or that are nonexistent due to limited resources. For example: a request is made for a graphical calendar displaying the training events but you do not have the hardware/software to provide this service indigenously – Calendars Net is a free interactive web calendar hosting service that will allow you to provide this service with the minimum requirement of designating a staff member to maintain the events.

Technical support for students should always involve examining the classroom learning environments and technologies they will be using that includes a demonstration of the tasks they will be expected to perform. This experience should provide the student with a good idea of what the limitations and/or criteria are for each of the tasks they may be asked to do. An excellent way to give the Distance Learning student the experience of learning online in a safe and controlled environment is to set up a simulated classroom using each technology available to the faculty. The activities demonstrated in simulated classrooms should be accessible in a real-time capacity for face-to-face instruction, in a printable format for review, and in a presentation format such as PowerPoint. The software used to create the presentation is not as important as the interactivity. A limited example of every classroom activity available to the faculty should be demonstrated here along with a hands-on portion where students can apply what they’ve learned. Some of these presentation forms will allow the student to access this training whether using the Internet, an intranet, any virtual networks available, CD, or DVD.

Although some students find taking a class online best fits their schedule or lifestyle, there are students with limited resources or access to technology outside of school. For this reason students will use the college labs to access their classroom and complete their homework so it is important to include the student labs when considering how to best way to deliver training materials.

Training information should be a high priority link accessible within one click. The schedule for any face-to-face training available to the campus community should be prominently displayed and easy to find. Options for submitting a request for training materials or a face-to-face session should be available as well. Clearly outline the registration process or procedure for training sessions along with any other information regarding user requirements. Whether listed as a part of this site or as links to partner websites, tutorials and other learning materials should be available from this website. These could be, for example, links to the Blackboard, Vista (or other course technology tool) support center for students or a link to online tutorials for using a Microsoft Office product such as Microsoft Word. Tutorials can be provided in-house or by other partner institutions and websites such as Education Online for Computer Software.

The Help Desk is a complex technical support tool and should be approached in phases using the aforementioned feasibility analysis process/procedure/matrix. The first phase should start with the basic structure of phone support from a minimum of 8am to 5pm and with a goal of 24/7 telephone coverage. Initially, a website can be used for technical support after hours posted on the website as FAQ's, troubleshooting tips, and tutorials. The website should also outline the steps a user needs to take to get help. These steps should be prominently displayed; as clear and easy to read as possible; and should define whom to call and when. The telephone coverage together with a web presence should provide a good foundation but should be re-evaluated periodically by the Distance Learning Committee to determine needs for growth. The evaluation process should be developed by the Distance Learning Committee and established prior to the implementation of the Help Desk services.

Who to Involve

Of course the most critical role in technical support is played by the Distance Learning faculty and students. They are the keys to the success of an institution’s Distance Learning program. There are four basic but significant roles to consider with regard to staffing for technical support needs: leadership, training, administrative/clerical support, and end-user technical support.

Leadership. In larger institutions the leadership in the area of technical support would be provided by the Director or highest-ranking professional of the Information Technology department or area followed by administrators, faculty, and/or professionals from (where applicable) Distance Learning, Learning Technologies, and/or Instructional Innovation areas of the institution. Strong and proven leadership ability is required to fulfill this role and should be considered carefully.

Although the skills and abilities will be dependant on the unique needs of each institution the leadership responsibilities designated by the Distance Learning Committee should include:

• Planning and Outline phases or stages for growth preferably using feedback from surveys of both Distance Learning faculty and staff
• Promoting awareness of these services by building relationships and collaborating with other institutional areas/services
• Engaging as many Distance Learning faculty members as will contribute their time and be as inclusive as possible
• Establishing procedures for evaluating new or changing hardware and software needs in a timely manner
• Establishing procedures for comparing what options are available to meet technological needs in order to decide whether to build, buy, or partner with another area, department, company, or institution to meet those needs

Training. Training of both faculty and the students participating in the Distance Learning Program will be not only a necessity but also a critical facilitator to the success of the Help Desk. With the appropriate training, faculty and students will be empowered to use the available technology confidently and therefore rely on specific Help Desk resources only in moderation.

Training involves the planning, research, and development of instructional media and materials to support the Distance Learning environment. The desirable skill set for a trainer is equal parts customer service and technical shrewdness. A trainer must demonstrate knowledge of the material but possess the ability to deliver the material to an audience with diverse learning styles and levels of technical knowledge/ability. Because of this diversity of audience, the trainer needs a good understanding of current trends in the multimedia industry and must be proficient in using the most up-to-date tools.

In larger institutions where a particular department or area is providing the training, such as Instructional Innovation or Information Technology, the goal would be to work out a training partnership. In cases where resources are limited, training can and should be provided by a member of the Distance Learning faculty who is willing to use his or her time to not only lead the way for fellow instructors to deliver their courses in an online environment, but also to help orientate students to learning online. Along with designated trainers, any available and willing technically knowledgeable faculty and staff should be utilized to encourage a flexible and varied training schedule.

Administrative/Clerical. As in most areas, knowledge of the budgeting and purchasing processes is critical to the success and growth of services. There must be open communication with and direct access to either the information systems or an individual who can advise and assist with budget requests, purchasing, and/or ordering of supplies.

End-User Technical Support. End-user technical support is the hardest role to fill. Technical support members need to possess a familiarity with the various available technologies while understanding various communication styles among a diverse campus community. It is just as essential that the end-user support staff demonstrate a customer service orientated attitude, as it is that they utilize their problem-solving ability.

The specific skills needed and duties required will be designated by the Distance Learning Committee based on institutional needs. Because students are encouraged to use the campus labs, in many cases they are using the lab workstations to access the services provided online. It follows that any technically savvy local support should be trained and utilized when and where available.

References

The Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium
http://www.ctdlc.org/Evaluation/thebestpracticesandprotocols.html

Beyond the Administrative Core: Creating Web Based Student Services for Online Learners (2003)  http://www.wcet.info/projects/laap/index.asp

Technical Support Options Matrix
http://www.wcet.info/projects/laap/guidelines/matrix.doc

Guidelines - Phases
http://www.wcet.info/projects/laap/guidelines/phases.pdf

The Texas Library System
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/libsysact/

Education Online for Computer Software
http://www.educationonlineforcomputers.com/

Usability http://www.usability.gov/

All Things Web http://www.pantos.org/

Usableweb http://usableweb.com/

Calendars Net http://www.calendars.net