Jen Tobin

I always believe in doing discovery and not approaching students roughly or with accusations and this module helped validate that. It gave specific techniques and examples to utilize and I think we can make small tweaks to our communication as an organization to perhaps have increased retention. 

Our program has some video/face-to-face elements, but I really like the idea of instructors taking video of themselves out in the world to humanize themselves. I think this can be a great relationship tool and make the students feel more at home with the instructors, generally. 

So far, there is not a lot of new information for me in this course. Our students are all over the map, demographically; some 18-24, some 35-65 working full-time, on disability, parents, whomever. Many do not have the needed tech skills to be successful and we have two people on staff who work with them as their main job.  We reach out when we don't see submissions in Canvas after 5 days, ask if they need a tutor, etc. and our retention is still not great. I'm waiting to hear the "secret sauce" here because we have excellent support and… >>>

In reflection, I feel we could do a better job at my institution of utilizing positive praise to keep people motivated. I think the staff and faculty gets caught up in supporting the students of need and those who are just doing the things can unintentionally get ignored. Those who need the most help don't always get the praise either, because people are so focused on just getting them the help. 

We have a PDF postcard for staff that we use to show praise and gratitude when a co-worker does something noteworthy. I am going to make a few versions… >>>