Supporting Students in Distributed Learning an Etoolkit

Supporting Students in Distributed Learning An eToolkit

OVERVIEW

Introduction The purpose of the Successful Practices in Supporting Students in Distributed Learning project was to provide the post-secondary system with a set of tools and strategies for the successful implementation and expansion of student services to support alternative delivery learners. This project was funded by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology Government of Alberta and led by Bow Valley College in partnership with Lethbridge College, NAIT, NorQuest College, Northern Lakes College, Olds College, Portage College, and Red Deer College. The project was informed by a steering committee comprised of representatives from the partner post-secondary institutions, eCampusAlberta, and AET.

The project identified the current state of academic, enrolment, and student services across publicly funded colleges and technical institutes in Alberta as well as in community organizations that support adult learners. Services that are currently contributing to the success and satisfaction of alternative learners were identified along with areas requiring change. Institutional policies, procedures, and practices that led to learner success in programs using alternative delivery strategies were reviewed and best practices identified and analyzed to identify the unstated “best practices behind the best practices.”

Project Goal and Objectives The project goals were to enhance the quality of support services for alternative learners and to expand flexible or alternative learning opportunities throughout the province as viable options to traditional classroom-based learning in order to enhance alternative learner success, satisfaction, and retention.

This goal was addressed through the following key objectives:

Document existing best practices in innovative service delivery to learners and administrative policies and procedures that enable such best practices to be developed. Reveal and articulate the administrative and human resource practices within post- secondary institutions that are congruent with successful alternative delivery programs. Develop a resource kit that will support post-secondary institutions desiring to implement new practices or improve existing practices that support alternative delivery learners.

About the eToolkit The eToolkit represents a summary of the project’s findings along with supporting examples and guidelines for assessing and developing institutional practices in distributed learning. It is organized around the 10 successful practices identified in the project, but purposely avoids providing a beginning or end point for institutional development. Rather, each successful practice is treated separately, allowing users to focus on current priorities and initiatives to meet the needs of their institution.

For each of the identified successful practices, the eToolkit provides an organizational assessment tool (as a printable MS-Word document) that serves as a checklist for determining to what degree an institution follows the practice. The questions presented in this tool draw on an extensive literature review as well as themes identified during the course of the project. To support and provide context for each organizational assessment, a summary of research findings along with specific examples of applications are included. In addition, policy considerations that influence each successful practice are outlined to allow users to identify concrete steps toward implementation and improvement.