A review of Online Student Skills and Strategies Handbook
by Evelyn Beck
While most of the burgeoning number of books about distance education focus on instruction, this text is clearly aimed at students. Its purpose is similar to books like E-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success by Ryan Watkins and Michael Corry (Houghton Mifflin, 2004) though Online Student Skills and Strategies Handbook offers a wider range of specific technical tips. And since computer technology changes so quickly, it is, obviously, more useful than books published even two years ago.
The authors suggest this handbook as a required or supplemental text for students taking online classes. While computer savvy students would likely pick up only a few worthwhile tips here, novice computer users who are new to distance education would find it very useful.
Clear, easy-to-follow technical advice—that is definitely this text’s major strength. Students are told just enough for some of the terms to make sense but not so much that they’d feel overwhelmed. For example, here’s the explanation of JavaScript:
“JavaScript allows for interaction between you and the website you are visiting. Many websites use JavaScript to process forms and verify information. JavaScript is also often used in formatting web pages. If JavaScript is disabled in your browser, pages may not work properly. Interactive items like questionnaires or shopping carts may not work or pages may not display properly.”
That’s just enough for readers to comprehend the necessity of enabling this tool on their computers, and they’re told how to do so.
The book is packed with helpful tips. Online instructors will be delighted at the advice on how to copy and paste and how to attach files—vital basic skills that create difficulties for students who lack the know-how. Students will also learn how to bookmark a website and then organize those bookmarks, how to add plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, how to clear a cache, how to set document view with zoom, how to organize folders, how to copy from a pdf file, how to save files, how to upload files, how to use two or more open programs in Windows, how to secure virus protection, how to add a signature to email, and how to organize email in folders. And the book contains plenty of screen shots that take students step by step through the instructions.
Much of the advice is just right in terms of how much students need to do. However, 18 pages about how to copy and paste seems excessive. And some important advice is incomplete or missing. In particular, the book fails to give enough specific tips on planning for technology failure. Students are told to print out course information and to keep it in a binder along with necessary URL’s and passwords. And they do receive general advice about scouting out back-up computers and thinking about Internet access for times when they’ll be traveling. But they could use more information about how to ward against, prepare for and cope with inevitable problems related to technology, for these are exactly the situations that cause meltdowns for online students. For example, one tip that my own students find invaluable is to download free limited Internet access from providers like NetZero or Juno to use in case their own ISP fails; that would have been helpful to include here. Other good advice would include how to disable pop-up blockers, which often come standard on newer computers but prevent course management software from operating properly. Students also might benefit from more precise guidance on how to defragment their computers or back up their data. And they might be interested in free software (such as RealVNC) that allows them to access their home computer desktop remotely; this is a great tool when they are working on another computer and realize they need something stored on the hard drive at home.
The advice in this handbook is written primarily for computers running Windows XP, so some of it (such as how to cascade Windows) doesn’t make sense with older versions of Windows. But trying to cover every variation in a concise handbook is admittedly impossible.
While the book overall is strong on technical advice, it’s less thorough in guiding students through difficulties they might encounter in the online classroom. For example, students might benefit from such seemingly obvious advice as the difference between “threaded” and “unthreaded” views of discussion boards or the ways to control seeing all messages or only those that have been read. Every single semester, I receive panicked emails from students who can’t figure out where their postings have disappeared to. Granted, these techniques differ according to the course management software being used, but some discussion would be useful.
In addition, though different aspects of the online experience are mentioned, including group projects, this is another example where more troubleshooting help might be valuable. Group work is always a challenge, but the problems are magnified online when students disappear and don’t respond to messages; this is compounded when other group members post angry comments that make the whole situation quickly grow volatile. This handbook might alert students to these potential problems and how to avoid or at least defuse them. Ganey, Christ and Hurt do offer some very welcome suggestions on good practices for the online student.
These are the kinds of things that don’t occur to novices but can drive teachers crazy. For instance, students are told to identify themselves as the sender of email by setting their name to display in their email account. They’re also advised to fully identify themselves in the body of the email. If all students followed these two tips, I would no longer receive those mysterious anonymous messages. Another good idea: Students are told to make clear use of the subject line in an email message. Further, they’re urged not to use all caps, to be courteous, and to avoid humor which can be misconstrued.
The book is also clearly organized. In the beginning there is a self-assessment survey of readiness for online learning. The survey itself is quite thorough, asking students about their abilities in many areas. For example, do they know how to set their computer’s monitor resolution for best viewing? Do they know how to convert files to rich text format? Do they know how to set a high priority on emails? Each question then directs students to a section of the handbook for help with the skill mentioned.
Each section includes a list of related Internet resources with URL’s and a list of related sections in the handbook. At the end of the book, there’s a “webliography” that includes all the URL’s listed in the book. There’s also a list of keyboard shortcuts, along with a glossary and index. So this is a user-friendly book that students can dip into for advice as they need it.
Overall, there is room for expansion, this is one of the best handbooks out there for students who don’t know all they need to know for successfully navigating their computers and their online courses.
