What do you do about those that miss orientation?
Our school has orientation the week before start day. We do a pretty good job with those who attend, but many enroll after orientation. It is hard to get them together for an orientation. How do you handle this?
You may want to consider planning for a late orientation by setting aside some time the first week of classes...perhaps one during the day and one in the evening. You still won't get everyone, but you'll get many more. The students who cannot make a structured, late orientation could be handled individually as outlined in some of the text or postings in this section.
Susan
We do orientation on the Friday prior to the start and the evening before the day of the start.
Our regular practice is to hold orientation as the first day of class. I facilitate that along with an enthusiastic instructor. We provide each student with a welcome packet in a personalized binder, course syllabus and and issue books. After an informative orientation, we have either a recent graduate or current senior student demonstrate some of the skills that the new class will learn, and invite them to ask questions. As for late starters, I am pleased that our staff is very thorough so that nothing is left out of the orientation experience. While experiencing low enrollment when our branch campus opened, I scheduled individual orientations with students during the week before classes began. I believe it gave our new students a strong sense of our commitment to them, and we made sure to include in- class activities to help students acclimate to each other and form a group bond.
Awesome! That personal attention and including a presentation by a senior/graduate and an enthusiastic instructor are excellent components. Good for you!
We do an individual orientation for those starting after our orientation week.
Juan--
Do you cover all the same topics?
David,
Our school has orientation the day and evening that classes start. If students are unable to attend or enroll after orientation, their orientation is done on an individual basis. The drawback to this is they miss the teacher introductions, their biographies and what they teachers feel they need to focus on to succeed.
Barbara
We do not have any orientation that I know of. Maybe the rep does it or maybe student services does it.
We also conduct an individual student orientation for anyone who enrolls last minute or is unable to attend the scheduled orientation.
The same topics are covered, however, the student misses out on the additional speakers. To resolve this issue we try to walk the student around the campus and introduce them to employees in different departments.
Our school has boothes set up by each of the departments in the auditorium and some general
orientation is taken care of at that time,
however the first two days of class is used to
motivate the students and part of the
"school". There are guest speakers several
group activities to help with team building
and some actual lab type instruction to get the
students on board. Our school is a hands on
learning environment but the first part is mostly
lecture so the basic lab activities help the students get comfortable. Although some students
miss the first day of school, they will still
get a full day of participation in this
orientation program.
Stephen--
This sounds like a great set up...and fun!
Susan
I agree attedning orientation is very important. I teach online and many of students miss the orientation or take it so far in advance of starting class that when the class starts they are lost. Our school requires instructors to post a very detailed course expectations - which outlines due dates, office hours, grading rubric and the rules of the classroom. During the first class period or live chat I go over this list and bill this session as "How to Get an A in class!" For the students who attend they have a clear understanding of what is expected in class. Unfortunately, there are some students who will not attend or review the archived chats.
Sending emails, posting annoucements, and highlighting the orientation days/times and trying to show the advantages is the helpful. If students can see the benefit they are more likely to attend.
Kate--
Online is so much harder in some ways, an getting students up-to-speed and ready to go is certainly one of them. It sounds like you do a great job of offering that opportunity for your students and the ones that take advantage of that are well served.
Susan
a student should not be omitted to class if he/she misses orientation. showes how much they care about their education.
