S1.4.8

=Student e-learning support is subject to formal quality assurance reviews and re-prioritisation of resources and objectives. =

Evidence
According to Kirschner et al., (2004), there can be significant difference between intentions for support and users perceptions of them. They describe an iterative model for designing for e-learning that attends to six steps, including learner competencies, interactions, and tasks, towards ‘determining how computer support can be best applied’ (p. 31). The model pays close attention to actual and particular learner needs, including: how best to address and support those needs, the learner’s perceptions of the support provided, how the support is actually used, and how effective the support is for actual learning achievement: ‘We might be tempted to say that this is “the proof of the pudding”’ (p. 30).

Resources
The primary focus for institutions, according (SIEL draft March 2010) is to anticipate the needs of the students. Improving post-secondary student e-learning and retention involves putting mechanisms in place to assist with communicating student and institutional expectations prior to the student’s first e-learning experience. Understanding best practice for student induction, undertaking self-assessment to evaluate institutional e-learning induction practices, and preparing first-year students for e-learning all during the early weeks of their first course. The SIEL report details in a matrix how all this can be done.