Ideas for using Quest throughout the semester

While the ideal is for students to begin their first (or subsequent) online course fully prepare to learn with a thorough understanding of the demands of online learning, we know that isn’t always the case. One thing to keep in mind is that online courses have students:

new to online learning
who have previously attempted and not succeeded in online courses
highly motivated and not so highly motivated online learners
successful experienced online learners

Modules 1-3 - are particularly good for novice online learners (others may think them too basic)
Module 4 is good for all except successful and highly motivated online learners
Modules 5-9 are good for everyone who needs to learn more about those specific topical areas (these modules are not specifically for online learners, whereas Modules 1-4 contain material that is specifically targeted to the needs of online learners.

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Here are some ideas for incorporating Quest resources during Week 1 of your course and throughout the semester. These suggestions are based on the assumption that you have included the link to your school’s Quest in Canvas site in your academic course. See the linking page for how to do this.

Encourage students to complete either the Quest for Online Success Modules recommended for new or experienced online learners if they haven’t already done so. If they have already completed some of the modules, you might encourage them to explore others. You might award points for writing a few paragraphs about the experience.

Here are a few ideas for discussion board assignments:

Provide an opportunity for students to discuss their Smarter Measure results – perhaps have them highlight their strengths and weaknesses and reflect about how these factors may either facilitate or create challenges to their online success.
Encourage students to give each other ideas about how to overcome some of the challenges of online learning.
SmarterMeasure provides links to online skill building resources. Have students explore these resources and share what they found particularly useful or ones they felt were not helpful and why. Remind students about the Getting Started page that provides direct links to resources found on local college websites.
You might ask students new to online learning to review the Introduction to Online Learning Module and describe what they think might be most challenging to them as an online learning. Experienced online learners might be encouraged to respond and support students new to online learning by sharing what helped them succeed and share lessons learned – things they plan to do differently in the future.
Module 4 has tutorials about time management, organizing physical and electronic materials, online study skills, online communication skills and online reading skills. Have students review those four tutorials (Module 4) and share with others the most important thing they learned and how it will improve their success in this online course.
Modules 5 and 6 have short videos about Career and Educational Planning. Have students share their college major and their dream job. Have students ask each other questions about their hopes and dreams. As a discussion starter, you might suggest some careers related to the content of your course.

Sometimes topics are of a more personal nature and it is more appropriate to assign a reflection paper that is submitted privately. There are many topics covered in the Instructional and Personal support videos as well as the Financial Planning video that may get students thinking about how concerns in these areas might interfere with their academic success. Have them select one and submit a paper – might also help to identify their writing style.