Creating and Implementing an Online Orientation from the Ground Up

1. Creating and Implementing an Online Orientation from the Ground Up

2. Clay Adams Assistant Dean for New Student Programs Duke University clay.adams@duke.edu Katie Granholm Assistant Director of Orientation and the Transfer Experience University of Minnesota, Twin Cities granh013@umn.edu Jessica Hale, Ed.D Professional Services Faculty Washtenaw Community College jhale15@wccnet.edu

3. Mission: The mission of the National Orientation Directors Association is to provide education, leadership and professional development in the fields of college student orientation, transition and retention Core Values: Community, Diversity, Integrity, Learning, Scholarship, Service.

4. NODA Home Office University of Minnesota 1313 Fifth Street SE Suite 323A Minneapolis, MN 55414 Toll free: 866-521-NODA or 612-627-0150 612-627-0153 (fax) noda@umn.edu www.nodaweb.org

5. Learning Outcomes Engage in discussion of the key components of online orientation creation. Interact with orientation professionals who have experience with successful online orientation programs. Create a plan for implementing your own online orientation.

6. Introduction and Background • The goal of orientation is to help students integrate socially and academically into college environment (Tinto, 1975) • Over the last few decades orientation programs have experienced rapid growth and evolved to meet the changing needs of students (Strumpf, Sharer, & Wawrzynski, 2003) • Online education is growing at a rate that far outpaces face-to-face higher education (Allen & Seaman, 2009) • Online orientations are emerging as an acceptable means to facilitate the transition process

7. Online Orientation : A web-based orientation program that occurs synchronously or asynchronously

8. Current Online Orientation Practices • Online Orientation programs are utilized at all types of institutions  • Used for many different student populations • Utilize various platforms • Synchronous • Asynchronous • Three Primary Types of Online Orientation Programs (Page, 2009) • Pre-Orientation • Replacement • Hybrid

9. Relevant theories: • Participatory Learning (Shirky, 2008) • Active Learning (Astin, 1999) • Web 2.0 (Yuen, 2010) • Concept of Cognitive Surplus (Shirky, 2010) Take Home Point: • Learning is an interactive and participatory process facilitated by media

10. Overview of the Planning Process • Set Goals • Identify Key Players and Collaborators • Evaluate Resources • Explore the Technology • Develop a Process and Timeline • Create an Assessment Plan • Maintain and Revise

11. Set Goals • What is the purpose of your online orientation? • What population(s) will the online orientation serve? • How will the online orientation relate to existing programs? • How will you make your online orientation participatory and interactive? • What are your learning outcomes?

12. Goal Setting at Duke

13. Set Goals: Learning Outcomes

14. What are your desired learning outcomes?

15. Identify Key Players and Collaborations • Who needs to involved to make an effective online orientation a reality? • Internal • Your office • College constituents • Departmental partners • Web Services/Information Technology • External • New students • Parents and supporters • Sponsors • Other

16. Key Players and Collaborations at WCC

17. Who might fall into the “other” group of key collaborators?

18. Evaluate Resources • What resources are available? • Immediate vs. long-term • Internal vs. external • What is your budget? • Start-up costs • Maintenance costs • What human resources are needed? • Editing, graphic design, web design, programmer, etc.

19. Resources at UMN-TC

20. What is your budget for online orientation?

21. Explore the Technology • What capabilities do you require based on your goals? • Customization • Participation tracking • Interactive components like videos, quizzes, etc. • What type of platform will you use? • Synchronous vs. Asynchronous • What products/tech support is available through your institution? • In-house vs. third party vendor

22. Technology Exploration at WCC

23. What type of platform would you like to use?

24. Develop a Process and Timeline • How will content be developed and edited? • Content driven by your learning outcomes • Individual vs. collective process • Is special expertise needed? • Graphic design, web design, database building • If so, what does this timeline look like? • When will online orientation be available? • Allow time for usability testing, editing, demonstration, etc.

25. Process and Timeline at Duke

26. Sample Timeline

27. What is your timeframe from conception to implementation?

28. Create an Assessment Plan • What determines success? • Accomplishment of learning outcomes, participation rate, etc. • How will success be measured? • When will success be measured? • What do you need to know? • May be driven by stakeholders/campus constituencies • What methods of evaluation will you use? • Online questionnaire, paper form, follow-up survey, focus groups, usability testing, etc. • Does the evaluation method align with desired outcomes?

29. Assessment Plan at WCC

30. How will you define success?

31. Maintain and Revise • How will content be maintained? • What is involved in this process? • What is the timeline? • Who is responsible? • How will technology be maintained? • What is the process? • What is the timeline? • Who is responsible? • How often will major revisions take place?

32. Maintenance and Revision at UMN-TC

33. What challenges do you foresee in maintaining your online orientation?

34. Tips for Success • Set clear goals • Identify key players and collaborators early • Evaluate resources • Explore technological options • Create an assessment plan during product development • Plan a staged implementation • Build an exaggerated timeline

35. Learning Outcomes Revisited Engaged in discussion of the key components of online orientation creation. Interacted with orientation professionals who have experience with successful online orientation programs. Created a plan for implementing your own online orientation.

36. References • Allen, I.E., & Seaman, J. (2009). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States, 2009. Needham, MA: Sloan-C. Retrieved from http://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey04a.asp • Astin, A. W. (1999). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529. • Page, D. (2009). Online orientation program research summary. Minneapolis, MN: National Orientation Directors Association. • Shirky, C. (2008) . Here comes everybody: The power of organisation without organisations . London: Allen Lane. • Shirky, C. (2010). In Tantor Media. (Ed.), Cognitive surplus [sound recording]. Old Saybrook, Conn. : Tantor Media. • Strumpf, G., Wawrzynski, M., & Sharer, G. (2003). 20 years of trends and issues in orientation programs. In (Eds). Designing successful transitions: A guide for orienting students to college. The Freshman Year Experience Monograph Series. South Carolina University, Columbia. National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience. National Orientation Directors Association. • Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. • Yuen, S.C. (2010). Collective intelligence and e-learning 2.0 : Implications of web-based communities and networking . In Yuen S. C. (Ed.), Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference.