Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
The Help Desk as a Learning Resource
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By: Bob Lhota |
Proceeding
ABSTRACT
Computer service departments have used help desks to provide and track their services. Dyersburg State Community College in the Spring of 2001 began using the help desk concept as a learning resource. It provides assistance through the Help Desk web page and through the telephone to students using technology in their learning. It also is a valuable resource for on-ground students using the Learning Resource Center.
The Help Desk as a Learning Resource
Basic Assumption: The basic assumption for this presentation is that the computer in its various forms has become an essential part of the learning process, at the same time radically changing it. It is not merely a tool. It has changed the entire learning paradigm. In the information age, information and learning are bound together as a coherent process. The first steps in learning are information skills. Information skills are built upon computer skills. Like the critical threshold when writing developed changed the learning world, this critical threshold in information technology changed the learning world again. Margaret J. Wheatley in Leadership and the New Sciences puts this new paradigm into focus for us. "...Information is a very different 'thing'...information is a dynamic, changing element, taking center stage. Without information, life cannot give birth to anything new..."(94-95)
As the information age began and intra and inter networks developed, the Help Desk became a handy tool for computer services to provide assistance to users in an effective and efficient manner almost anytime and anyplace. It also provided a mechanism for tracking service requests and responses. Online classes added a further dimension, the need to provide technical assistance to online learners.
Online Learning: Dyersburg State Community College has been involved in distance education since 1988 with the introduction of several telecourses. In Spring 2002 there are 34 courses with approximately 800 students enrolled. Dyersburg State in the Spring, 2002 had a headcount of 2,228 and an FTE of 1,513. Online classes account for a good percentage of the headcount and FTE.
In 2000 DSCC Teaching, Learning, Technology Roundtable (TLTR) set up four benchmarks for Online Learning Support:
- Online students receive information about programs, admission requirements, fees, books, and support services
- Online students have access to technical and learning assistance
- Online students are provided training in courseware and information skills
- Online students receive timely responses from student service personnel and procedures are in place to handle complaints.
Dyersburg State Community College in the spring of 2001 began to use a help desk as a learning resource to achieve these benchmarks. Borrowing the service model used by computer services, the Learning Resource Center created a Help Desk that provides online learning assistance for distance learning students. Quickly realizing that most classes at DSCC have some online component, the Help Desk mission was broadened to include any student using information technology in their online learning. Finally, it was further expanded to included students using information technology in the learning resource center on campus.
Information Gateway: The Help Desk is set in the framework of this Information Gateway and located in the LRC and is supervised by the LRC Technical Services Assistant. The LRC information gateway includes:
- 118 computers in LRC 30,989 uses in Fall +4%
- Information gateway web page (Points to Help Desk Web Page) 11,400 users in Fall 28% of LRC use
- Information skills instruction 60 sessions 1,147 Students
- Online learning CD 884 duplicated in Fall
- Online/CD databases 35, 792 searches in Fall +30%
- Multimedia workstations 28 student multimedia projects
Help Desk Operation: Computer technology students man the Help Desk, some doing their final practicums for their degrees. Five to six students each work 20 hours per week for an annual cost of $18,000. The cost is supported by $5,500 from the Technology Access Fee and $12,500 from the LRC distance learning budget. The Help Desk is available by e-mail, phone & in person during LRC Hours, Mon-Thur 8-8, Friday 8-4, Sat 9-1, for a total of 60 Hours per week.
The Help Desk is prominently displayed on the "College at Home" Page, in every online class syllabus, on the DSCC Web Page, on the LRC Information Gateway Web Page, and on Campus Pipeline Intranet to provide students with quick and easy access. Every distance learning student receives a Distance Learning Resources CD that has tutorials on all of the learning resources including the Help Desk.
The Help Desk will answer any question or request for assistance within 1 or 2 hours during weekdays, within 12 hours during week nights and within 48 hours on Saturdays & Sundays. Many questions and requests are answered immediately. Student assistants that are trained and experienced in computers and using online services man the Help Desk. They receive additional training in providing learning assistance. When the question or request is above their level of expertise, they refer the question to the appropriate DSCC staff member. The Help Desk assistants e-mail or call the appropriate DSCC staff member and follow-up on the response from the staff member. No student is left hanging because they could not reach the appropriate DSCC person or because they did not receive any answer at all. An added benefit of the Help Desk is that it serves as the on-ground Help Desk for the Learning Resource Center with immediate assistance.
Help Desk learning services include assistance in using WebCT, Campus Pipeline, and CDs; Tutorials on and direct assistance with various software including Netscape, Internet Explorer, Word, Excel, PowerPoint; zipping and transferring files, assistance in installing plug-ins; access to online tutoring; a Learning Style Inventory; an Online Readiness Survey; Regents Degree Programs; Technology Toolkit; Browser Tune-up; Information Gateway; Ask the Help Desk.
Help Desk Software: The Help Desk design and development began with a search for Help Desk software. DSCC looked at one free and four commercial products. All the products were focused on the technology and were designed for a computer service department. The free software was not robust enough to handle what was needed. The commercial softwares were too complicated and did not focus on the information and learning needed. We dreaded the thought of designing our own! Someone suggested Microsoft's Task Manager that was being used for requests and tasks in other applications. It had been customized as much as possible for these applications.
Following this model, Task Manager was customized for the Help Desk. Help Desk, Task Manager, Frequently Asked Questions, Contacts, Calendar, and Archive were added to Outlook Shortcuts. Next the Tasks Toolbar was customized with the following categories: Question, Answer, Action, Status, Date Due, Category, Name of Assistant. Additionally, an archive file and an Outlook email account were set up. But we are still searching for commercial software but have not found any that match our needs.
Help Desk Learning: Since the focus of the Help Desk is to be a learning resource, what types of learning have developed?
The most basic is the one-on-one assistance and tutoring by phone, email and in person. Online learning skills include an assessment of online readiness, determining one's learning style and online techniques; using username and password, logging in processes, using WebCT class software, zipping and transferring files.
Information skills learning includes: following directions, accessing information, processing information, and analyzing information. Since assistants have had many of the classes, they can provide course content tutoring. Lastly, users develop their communication skills in working with the assistants.
Conclusions
What we have learned so far? First of all the LRC cannot no longer exist without the Help Desk. There must be at least two students for peak LRC use periods. The Help Desk Web Page needs to be evaluated and updated continually. To better evaluate Help Desk services, a satisfaction survey needs to be developed and given to students. Finally, a chat option needs to be explored.