Online Readiness Tool for Students
August 26, 2020
From: Robert Kunicki, Assistant Director for Student Success, Assessment & Enrollment Initiatives
Hello Colleagues,
I hope this email finds you well.
I wanted to share with you some information about a resource CUNY has made available to help prepare students for the fall semester, as a complement to efforts undertaken to better prepare faculty and staff. Are You Ready? is a Blackboard-based course developed by Hostos several years ago to help prepare students for online learning. The self-paced course, which takes a student about 30-45 minutes to complete, is currently being used by a number of CUNY community and senior colleges. Using brief videos, quizzes, and a practice assignment, the course includes modules that cover basic technology proficiencies and requirements; the basics of Blackboard; and online learning etiquette, as well as a brief self-assessment to highlight some of the key skills that online learning requires.
I have been designated as the point person for the implementation of Are You Ready? and I would like to enlist your support to help promote awareness of the course to our students and faculty with the goal of ensuring that a significant number of our students can avail themselves of this resource.
You can help by promoting the course to faculty members who might consider offering extra credit for course completion; or adding the course to any lists of distance learning resources and/or related communications. At the end of the course, students receive a certificate of completion that can be saved as a PDF and sent to a professor. I’ve attached Instagram graphics that can be used for promotion.
Students enrolled for the fall semester will automatically see the course when they log into Blackboard. They will see a course titled “Baruch College CUNY-Student Online Readiness-Are You Ready” under “My Organizations”.
Seven colleges have currently deployed a version of the course, and while there has been no formal evaluation of Are You Ready?, there has been anecdotal evidence that demonstrate a reduction in tech support tickets for inquiries relating to Blackboard at colleges that have implemented it. With broader based adoption of this course, this may provide opportunities to do research into the effectiveness of the course. And given the number of colleges that have coalesced around this, we believe our students may benefit from this resource, which is why I am asking for your partnership in bringing this to students’ attention.
I am happy to answer any questions as well as share any feedback back with the course developers: Robert.Kunicki@baruch.cuny.edu
Best,
Rob
Robert Kunicki | Baruch College
Assistant Director for Student Success, Assessment, & Enrollment Initiatives
Enrollment Management & Strategic Academic Initiatives
W: 646-312-4587