Implementation
Implementation Team and Time Estimates
| Personnel and Duties | Estimated Time Requirement | Costs |
|---|---|---|
Instructor: Doug Wolfe
|
|
None: volunteer |
Mentor: Dave S.
|
|
None: volunteer |
Management: Church Session (Board of Elders)
|
Part of overall responsibilities |
None: volunteer |
Admininstrative Support: Lyda S.
|
|
Salary determined by Session |
Technical Support: Doug Wolfe
|
|
None: volunteer |
Final Preparations
| Initial Learner Contact and Registration | Responses |
|---|---|
| How will the WBI be advertised? | Advertising will be through the church website, Barn Blast weekly e-newsletter, church bulletin, Barn Minute announcement, and Sunday morning announcements |
| When does the WBI start/stop? | Pilot test course late September through early November; offer for a larger group mid-January through early March |
| Who makes the initial contact? | The instructor will make the initial contact, including sending a welcome email and instructions on how to sign in to the LMS |
| How are learners initially contacted? | Initial contact is via email; phone and in-person communication may also be used |
| How do learners know where/when to register? To access WBI? | Advertising will include registration information; instructions on how to access the WBI will be provided in the welcome email |
| How do learners identify the software or plug-ins that they will need? | The welcome email will include information on software and plug-ins required |
| How do learners know their roles and responsibilities? | This information will be included in the course materials |
| Who do learners contact for technical or administrative assistance? | The course instructor will be the primary contact; a mentor will assist if available |
| How will learners obtain any support materials? | All necessary materials will be included in the WBI |
| Technical Requirements | Responses |
| How does the instructor access the WBI? | The instructor will access the WBI through an instructor login on the LMS. |
| What software or plug-ins are needed to use the WBI? | The only requirements are a reasonably modern browser and Adobe Reader. A list of supported browsers can be found on this page. |
| How does the instructor send and share documents or feedback on assignments? | Documents are posted as download links on the WBI. Feedback is through assignment feedback features in the LMS. |
| How will instructor or learners access online skills training? | Basic training in LMS use is provided through videos in the course introduction. The LMS also has tutorials and help features. A Questions discussion forum is also available. |
| How will the WBI team distribute support materials? | Support materials are posted in the WBI. |
| How will instructor or learners report technical problems? | Technical problems will be reported to the instructor/technical support through email and through the Questions forum. The LMS also has a feature that allows students to make comments directly on a page. |
| Participants | Responses |
| How will learners, instructor, and mentor contact each other? | Contact will be through email, the LMS messaging system, threaded discussion forums, and the student's reflection journal. |
| How are course expectations shared? | Course expectations will be shared through the course syllabus and the welcome email. If needed, a FAQ will be created for potential students who are deciding whether or not to take the course. |
| How do learners and instructor share files? | Files will be shared through postings in the WBI, a dropbox in the LMS, attachments to discussion postings, and email attachments. |
| Online Skills Training | Responses |
| How will the instructor be trained? | Doug has extensive experience as an online student and is the developer of the WBI. Doug is also near completion of EdTech 512 Online Course Design, which has provided extensive training. Additional training is generally not needed. |
| How will the mentor be trained? | The mentor will be trained through a combination of face-to-face instruction by Doug and through tutorials available in the WBI and LMS. |
| How will learners be trained? | Learners will be trained through videos in the course introduction and through tutorials provided by the LMS. |
Course Management
| Instructor Activity | Strategies |
|---|---|
| Activate links | Enable links in LMS; notify learners when new modules are active |
| Establish deadlines | Share deadlines for assignments for groups taking the course; for individuals taking the course solo, mutually agree on a schedule |
| Find lost learners | Monitor student activity; contact those who are not participating regularly |
| Track learner participation, assignments, etc. | Monitor student activity through LMS tools |
| Technology problems | Promptly respond to reports of problems; provide workarounds if problem cannot be quickly resolved |
| Monitor mentor activities | Come to mutual agreement with mentor on roles, duties, schedules, and expectations; touch base via email or phone at least weekly |
| Mentor Activity | Strategies |
| Monitor links | Check for and report broken links; suggest replacements for broken links |
| Review assignments | Assist instructor with reviewing learner assignments |
| Track learner participation, assignments, etc. | Monitor student activity through LMS tools; assist in responding to discussion posts |
| Learner Activity | Strategies |
| Identify class activities | Review module activities early in the class session; make a list of activities to be completed |
| Participate in class activities | Schedule time to complete class activities; log in regularly to check for updates; respond to posts from other learners |
| Complete class assignments | Learn to use the Hand In/Dropbox feature; if using alternate assignment submissions (e.g., video), learn how to create and post them |
