New students attend an orientation session each fall which includes an overview of the technology in use at the College. Several topics of varying complexity need to be covered in a 45 minute session by IT team members. This project included production of 3 deliverables including a PowerPoint presentation slide deck, printed handout, and online training course.
Objectives:
Prior to this project the orientation sessions were unscripted and often prone to running over the allotted time assigned to the technology portion depending on which IT team member was leading the session. I developed a PowerPoint presentation for use during the orientation sessions to help ensure all topics are covered in a consistent and timely manner regardless of presenter.
Students often contacted the IT helpdesk within the first few weeks of classes to ask for assistance with items that were covered in the orientation session. To address this, I also designed a Student Technology Guide handout of key reference information for review after the session is complete. This cut down on help desk calls and visits significantly.
With an increase in student population it has become challenging to accommodate all students in one orientation session. In order to address this issue I developed on online self-paced training course inside our Learning Management System (Canvas) which students can access remotely and independently. The course is currently being tested with anticipation of providing accepted applicants with early access to the course prior to the official orientation session eliminating the need for a face-to-face technology orientation.
Project Details:
I identified weak areas of the orientation session based on follow-up calls to the help desk then developed the PowerPoint slides to address these issues along with input from the IT team. I then created the Student Technology Guide document handout in Microsoft Publisher with the same visual theme to supplement the PowerPoint slides. Both items were designed to match the Bellin College brand.
Project Sample Files: