In 2007, National University College (NUC) located in San Juan, Puerto Rico began offering online courses. The distance education department was formed in 2009, offering its first online degree pro-gram. In the process, NUC felt it was essential to have a diagnostic tool that would provide both the potential online student and its distance education department with feedback regarding the basic skills required to be a successful online student. Although students were offered a self evaluation questionnaire about their readiness for online learning, this self assessment provided no real student data, and could not possibly diagnose student readiness for online learning. 

NUC implemented SmarterMeasure in early 2009, and agree that it is a crucial piece of the student information puzzle.  Using SmarterMeasure to make more informed decisions about one's future in online classes drives a stronger success rate and connects the administrator to the student.  To read the full case study click here.

Case Study with National University College

In late 2009, Dr. Martha A. Smith, president of Anne Arundel Community College, announced plans to help its students be more successful in reaching their educational goals. Part of that plan consisted of implementing a first-semester experience that included SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator. The Virtual Campus at Anne Arundel uses SmarterMeasure to help their students make an informed decision if online education is right for them. In addition, the learning style results are used to help students understand how they can learn best using their preferred learning style. To read the complete case study click here.

Case Study with Anne Arundel Community College

Thinking Smarter (formerly eToolsAlert) June 2010

Do you want to THINK SMARTER?  Do you want to work SMARTER, NOT HARDER?  Our new monthly newsletter is designed to help you make minutes count. It is our new commitment to you.  Organizing your data and giving it back to you in a format that empowers you to make an informed decision.  Let's start THINKING SMARTER together! Case Study Spotlight: Anne Arundel Community College and SmarterMeasure In late 2009, Dr. Martha A. Smith, president of Anne Arundel Community College, announced plans to help its students be more successful in reaching their educational goals.  Part of that plan consisted of implementing a first-semester experience that included SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator.  The Virtual Campus at Anne Arundel uses SmarterMeasure to help their students make an informed decision if online education is right for them.  In addition, the learning style results are used to help students understand how they can learn best using their preferred learning style.  To read the complete case study click here.  SmarterProctors Wants You! The month of June marked the beginning of our SmarterProctors campaign.  SmarterProctors (formerly known as TestProctors.com) is a database of individuals who are available to proctor high stakes exams (currently in beta version).  With all 50 states represented, our database is growing daily.  This Fall we hope to open it up for students and schools to search from and find neutral, local proctors to administer exams.  The site will provide a secure payment process so no money changes hands at the time of the test.  If you would like to create a FREE profile click here.  If you are interested in learning more about SmarterProctors contact our sales team at sales@SmarterServices.com. FREE Webinar-Tools for Scaling your Distance Learning Program Thursday, June 24th, 2:30-3:30 pm CST Are you facing challenges in your distance learning program?  Are you interested in learning more about measuring student readiness?  Do you struggle with finding qualified online faculty?  Would you like to know more about how to automate your end of course data?  Is testing integrity an issue at your school or organization?  Join us on Thursday, June 24th, 2:30-3:30 pm central for the SmarterServices webinar and learn more about solutions to your challenges. If time allows we will also be asking for input about ways your school has overcome these challenges.  Register today for this FREE summer webinar!    Case Studies Are you currently using one or more of our products?  Would you like your school to be in the "spotlight"?  Beginning next month in our quarterly newsletter "SmarterServices", we will be highlighting a school that has agreed to participate in a case study.  We have selected a few schools thus far but are still looking for additional schools to spotlight.  Case studies are important because they give the school free advertising and also provide ideas to other users about how they can improve implementation of our services.  If you are interested, please contact our VP of Marketing & Operations, Julie Owen, at julie@SmarterServices.com.  Some schools may be concerned about " unauthorized endorsements".  However, our case studies are written to report the factual account of your school using our product and are not solely meant to advertise a school's endorsement of the product.  The process is easy and begins with a basic questionnaire.  The final case study is approved by all parties and will be published in various locations including web, print, and collateral.

New Features in July Do you read our quarterly newsletter?  It will be going out next month and we have several product enhancements to announce so be sure and watch for it mid July.  You'll be pleased as we continue to increase our speed, efficiency, and commit to the evolution of our services.  Become our fan on Facebook If you want to get updates on all the exciting things that are happening at SmarterServices, click here to become our fan! Do you Tweet? If you want to learn about what's going on with SmarterServices first, follow us on Twitter. SmarterMeasure Training Series Do you need some training on the administrative features of SmarterMeasure?  We provide bi-monthly 30 minute - FREE training sessions to all current clients.  To view a calendar of opportunities and register, click here.

Thinking Smarter eNews

Recently at the TxDLA conference, we had the pleasure of presenting with Dr. Jeff Getchell from Del Mar College.  He highlighted how his school has used SmarterMeasure (formerly known as READI) and the results of a case study about their plan.  To watch the presentation click on the link below.

http://salesdemo.mediasite.com/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx?peid=a287790da9b14a429492f719d1e39cd6

Using Online Learner Readiness to Improve Retention

At Western Wyoming Community College, helping students succeed is a responsibility taken very seriously. WWCC takes a holistic approach to student retention, including faculty development, student preparation, procedures, new technologies, course design, student support services, and data collection/reporting.  This goal requires two view points: the administrator’s responsibility to understand how to help their students and the students helping themselves. 

WWCC offers nine degrees and three certificates fully online. While developing a plan to increase retention and satisfaction among their online students, the college created an orientation using student readiness as the catalyst that includes remediation and instruction.

WWCC found READI—Readiness for Education at a Distance Indicator—to be in line with their goals. The web-based, diagnostic tool measures a student’s abilities in five areas in regards to learning at a distance.  With the reports READI provides, students receive helpful feedback about their strengths and opportunities for improvement, which can be a valuable resource as they learn how to be successful. READI also provides administrators with insights on how to help their students.

Challenges Facing WWCC’s Online Program
• Desiring to help students be successful through an intentional process that yielded results in student satisfaction and retention. 
• Needing creative ways to effectively communicate with students due to a large demographic area to cover.
• Planning to create a demo course that included all necessary elements without overwhelming students.
• Providing remedial help in appropriate areas to those who needed it prior to beginning class.
• Needing a creative solution to open dialogue among online classmates in a way most convenient to them.

Solutions to Providing a Successful Online Program
Christine Lustik, director of distance learning at WWCC, organized the demo course and followed a planned process for each student.  “When we found out about READI – Readiness for Education at a Distance Indicator, the timing was perfect.  We were ready to enhance our efforts and a readiness tool met our need of trying to learn more about our online students.  It also filled a critical niche we had of providing the students with valuable remediation to help them succeed in online courses.”

To communicate information about READI and how students access it, WWCC incorporated READI into its open demo course.  The demo course is communicated to all online learners in a variety of ways: by mail along with student schedules and their username/password; by email; and with first day of course directions when registering for online courses. While Christine admits using snail mail is old fashioned and time consuming, it still works and remains part of their process. 

WWCC also uses the demo course and READI in two other instances of student preparation.  First, WWCC offers a one credit hour Intro to Online Learning course that is eight weeks or shorter.  READI is included in that introduction course as a required element. READI supports the goal of the course, which is to help students prepare for the technology, time management, typing, and other skills and commitments needed to succeed in online courses.  In addition, all instructors are encouraged to use the READI assessment as a base for the week one introduction discussions in their courses.  This provides a nice follow-up for the students as they use the information in the READI assessment, such as the learning style, as a base to introduce themselves to their fellow distance learners.  This helps to open up discussions among distance learners, and it supports the faculty as they learn about the students in their class. 

The Impact
WWCC uses the tool with the view that it is the administrator’s responsibility to understand how to help their students and their faculty, and it is the student’s responsibility to take the knowledge provided and help himself.  While WWCC does not contact individual students who complete READI or use it as a tool to weed out students who may face challenges in online courses, the impact is noticeable in many ways.  At the beginning of the fall 2009 semester, about 55 percent of the unduplicated online students completed the READI assessment, either voluntarily or because they were required to do so in a class.  Considering not all of the students are new online students, WWCC considers this a very good number.  This means when WWCC students are taking their first online course, most are being provided with some basic knowledge when they begin.  When they complete the READI assessment, students obtain a report providing information on their level of technology knowledge, learning style, reading comprehension, and typing speed.  In this report, WWCC also provides the students with information on how to improve in those areas, such as courses, training, or tools to help them improve their skills. 

For the faculty using READI as an introductory tool in their classroom, they are now beginning their course with knowledge of what their students’ learning styles are and how that might challenge them in the online environment.  READI can help faculty better prepare their content for students who have a variety of learning styles.  WWCC believes preparing the students and faculty in this manner supports the chance that they both succeed in the online course environment.

Access the full 2009 Online Student Readiness Report at http://www.readi.info/documents/2009_Online_Student_Readiness_Report.pdf.

Western Wyoming Community College
WWCC was established in 1959, serving over 5,000 students in an area covering 29,000 square miles with a population of slightly less than 100,000 people. The college is a member of the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium, which supports the Wyoming communities through WyCLASS, http://www.wyclass.wy.edu/. For more information about WWCC, visit http://www.wwcc.wy.edu.

eLearningToolBox.com
eLearningToolBox.com is a company that was born from a need to create web-based solutions for challenges in distance learning. Their team of educated professionals is interested in helping schools and businesses determine student readiness (READI.info), find quality online instructors (FacultyFinder.com), locate neutral test proctors (TestProctors.com), and obtain student feedback (PostCourse.com).  For more information about these solutions, contact Julie Owen at julie@eLearningToolBox.com or 1.877.411.ELTB (3582) ext. 109.

Case Study Western Wyoming Community College