Creating a CollegeWide Computer Literacy Program Sandra Neill

Creating a College-Wide Computer Literacy Program Sandra Neill and Miguel Roman George Brown College Toronto, Canada

Outline Ø About George Brown Ø About Us Ø About CSA Ø CSA@GBC Ø Digital Literacy for Productivity Ø Our Curriculum Ø CSA in the Community Ø The Big Picture S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

George Brown College Ø Downtown Toronto, Canada Ø Two campuses + satellite at Ryerson University Ø 14, 000 fulltime students Ø 50, 000 continuingeducation students S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

About us Ø Sandra Neill, Professor Ø Miguel Roman, Technologist Learning Innovations and Academic Development (LIAD) • Computer Skills and Applications program (CSA) • LMS • Web conferencing • Education technology research, evaluation, pilot • Teacher training in education technology • Online course development S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

About CSA Ø 1995: Province of Ontario mandate for generic skills widened to include basic computer literacy Ø GBC’s Computer Skills and Applications program created that same year to fulfill mandate Ø 2007: New focus: “Digital Literacy for Productivity” S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

About CSA Ø 7000+ students/year Ø Self-directed & online, but primarily oncampus Ø Suite of basic~intermediate computer skills courses covering a range of Microsoft Office applications Ø Three dedicated labs, one at each campus Ø Training & assessment software is “SAM” S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA: Our Team Sandra Neill: “Front-end processes” Ø Curriculum design: Select tasks and learning pathways; set testing and training parameters; Ø Assemble courses & sections; Ø Student issues; accessibility requirements; staffing; day-to-day lab and program issues; Ø Program and process review and renewal. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA: Our Team Miguel Roman: “Backend processes” Ø Database management & automation of batch processes: Student info from SIS → CSA course database Ø Query to derive results; Periodic updates; Batch grade load from CSA database → SIS Ø Program and process review and renewal. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA: Our Team Other team members Ø Technician: server/labs/hardware/image; Ø Two coordinators: course administration & frontline student issues; Ø Eight computer skills teaching assistants to tutor students, invigilate tests, and keep the labs running. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

About CSA Ø Almost every incoming student in an apprentice, diploma, or degree program takes a Computer Skills and Applications course Ø 7000+ each year S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA@GBC Ø Flagship course contains five basic modules: Windows, Word, Excel, Power. Point, Internet Explorer Ø Students can take a for-credit Challenge Test S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Digital Literacy for Productivity Today’s students: Ø Not intimidated by technology: proficient with social networking but not in the use of standard business applications Ø Little change in challenge testing results over last 5 years CSA program provides digital literacy for productivity S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Unique Curriculum Ø Three-step test-training-test path • Students begin with an assessment; • Following assessment, receive personalized training on the tasks they could not complete; • Training is followed by an exam on the same tasks. Ø Remediating path eliminates need for redundant training/testing • Students must learn and test successfully on 80% of the tasks they were unable to do in the assessment. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA@GBC Ø Assessment & exam done in CSA lab Ø Training can be done anywhere software is installed • Software available on loan from library Ø Custom training remains available throughout course Ø Three attempts at each exam Ø Only one deadline: last day of term S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA@GBC 450 Did you finish this course early? 400 350 300 250 Yes, in 7 weeks or less Yes, in 12 weeks or less No, I finished in week 15 200 150 100 50 0 S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA@GBC Ø Continuing-education and Access programs are a little different • Two-step path: full complement of training on all tasks first, followed by a test • Seems to work better with adult learners and computing novices • Miguel teaches our continuing education courses S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA@GBC We partner with GBC Staff Development office Ø Staff Development uses our course database to train faculty and staff on MS Office applications Ø HR can use our software to test job applicants when job requires proficiency in MS applications S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

CSA in the community Ø Community partner groups take our flagship course at no charge Ø On completion, participants receive a college credit • Goodwill’s “Real Employment to Achieve Community Health” Program • Fred Victor Centre’s “Employment and Skills Training” Program • Jewish Vocational Services “Bringing Employment Specialists to Tomorrow” Program • Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto’s “Survivorship Transition-to. Employment Program” S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

The Big Picture SCT Banner CSA Database S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College SAM

Student Registrations • SCT SIS Database SCT Banner ØSAM gets its student data from the SCT Banner database. ØPopulation is started through an initial SQL extract for each section in SAM and kept synchronized through daily SQL extracts from the SCT SIS database. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Data Translation • CSA Database ØWe maintain our own database which mirrors the SAM database but contains additional information not necessary for SAM. ØThis allows us to translate the business rules of our institution to suit SAM and vice versa. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Database Updates Ø Managing the Database SAM database snapshots are sent periodically by vendor; we load these into our CSA database. SAM The SAM data is combined with our SIS student data in the CSA database. This allows us to do periodic data integrity checks between databases and produce custom reports during an active term. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Grade Process SCT Banner Final grade calculation is performed in the CSA database, then formatted for upload to the SCT SIS database. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College CSA Database

Archive Final reports are produced and all data is archived for future reference in the event of discrepancies or grade challenges. Database is purged and readied for the new term. S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College

Questions Thanks for coming! Contact us at: mroman@georgebrown. ca sneill@georgebrown. ca S. Neill & M. Roman George Brown College