Creating a College-Wide Computer Literacy Program Sandra Neill and Miguel Roman George Brown College Toronto, Canada

Creating a College-Wide Computer Literacy Program

Sandra Neill and Miguel Roman George Brown College

Toronto, Canada

S. Neill & M. RomanGeorge Brown College

Outline

About George BrownAbout UsAbout CSACSA@GBCDigital Literacy for Productivity Our CurriculumCSA in the CommunityThe Big Picture


George Brown College

Downtown Toronto, Canada

Two campuses + satellite at Ryerson University

14,000 fulltime students

50,000 continuing-education students


About us

Sandra Neill, ProfessorMiguel Roman, Technologist

Learning Innovations and Academic Development (LIAD)• Computer Skills and Applications program (CSA)• LMS• Web conferencing• Education technology research, evaluation, pilot• Teacher training in education technology• Online course development


About CSA

1995: Province of Ontario mandate for generic skills widened to include basic computer literacy

GBC’s Computer Skills and Applications program created that same year to fulfill mandate

2007: New focus: “Digital Literacy for Productivity”


About CSA

7000+ students/yearSelf-directed & online, but primarily on-

campusSuite of basic~intermediate computer skills

courses covering a range of Microsoft Office applications

Three dedicated labs, one at each campusTraining & assessment software is “SAM”


CSA: Our Team

Sandra Neill: “Front-end processes” Curriculum design: Select tasks and learning

pathways; set testing and training parameters; Assemble courses & sections; Student issues; accessibility requirements;

staffing; day-to-day lab and program issues; Program and process review and renewal.


CSA: Our Team

Miguel Roman: “Backend processes” Database management & automation of batch

processes: Student info from SIS → CSA course database Query to derive results; Periodic updates;Batch grade load from CSA database → SIS Program and process review and renewal.


CSA: Our Team

Other team members Technician: server/labs/hardware/image; Two coordinators: course administration &

frontline student issues; Eight computer skills teaching assistants to

tutor students, invigilate tests, and keep the labs running.



About CSA

Almost every incoming student in an apprentice, diploma, or degree program takes a Computer Skills and Applications course

7000+ each year




CSA@GBC

Flagship course contains five basic modules: Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet

Explorer Students can take a for-credit Challenge Test

Digital Literacy for Productivity

Today’s students: Not intimidated by technology: proficient with

social networking but not in the use of standard business applications

Little change in challenge testing results over last 5 years

CSA program provides digital literacy for productivity



Unique Curriculum

Three-step test-training-test path• Students begin with an assessment;• Following assessment, receive personalized training on the

tasks they could not complete;• Training is followed by an exam on the same tasks.

Remediating path eliminates need for redundant training/testing• Students must learn and test successfully on 80% of the

tasks they were unable to do in the assessment.



CSA@GBC

Assessment & exam done in CSA labTraining can be done anywhere software is

installed• Software available on loan from library

Custom training remains available throughout course

Three attempts at each examOnly one deadline: last day of term

CSA@GBC



CSA@GBC

Continuing-education and Access programs are a little different• Two-step path: full complement of training on all

tasks first, followed by a test• Seems to work better with adult learners and

computing novices• Miguel teaches our continuing education courses


CSA@GBC

We partner with GBC Staff Development officeStaff Development uses our course database to

train faculty and staff on MS Office applicationsHR can use our software to test job applicants

when job requires proficiency in MS applications


CSA in the community

Community partner groups take our flagship course at no charge

On completion, participants receive a college credit • Goodwill’s “Real Employment to Achieve Community Health”

Program• Fred Victor Centre’s “Employment and Skills Training” Program• Jewish Vocational Services “Bringing Employment Specialists to

Tomorrow” Program • Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto’s “Survivorship Transition-to-

Employment Program”


The Big Picture

SCT Banner

SAMCSADatabase


Student Registrations

• SCT SIS Database

SCT Banner

SAM gets its student data from the SCT Banner database.Population is started through an initial SQL extract for each section in SAM and kept synchronized through daily SQL extracts from the SCT SIS database.


Data Translation

• CSA Database

CSADatabase

We maintain our own database which mirrors the SAM database but contains additional information not necessary for SAM.This allows us to translate the business rules of our institution to suit SAM and vice versa.


Database Updates

Managing the Database

SAM

SAM database snapshots are sent periodically byvendor; we load these into our CSA database.

The SAM data is combined with our SIS student data in the CSA database.

This allows us to do periodic data integrity checks betweendatabases and produce custom reports during anactive term.


Grade Process

CSADatabase

SCT Banner

Final grade calculation is performed in the CSA database, then formatted for upload to the SCT SIS database.


Archive

Final reports are produced and all data is archived for future reference in the event of discrepancies or grade challenges.

Database is purged and readiedfor the new term.


Questions

Thanks for coming!

Contact us at:[email protected]@georgebrown.ca

mailto:[email protected]



Documents

Creating a College-Wide Computer Literacy Program Sandra Neill and Miguel Roman George Brown College Toronto, Canada