Student Helpdesk - Growing Gains

Early last year I was inspired by Burlington High School and their amazing student helpdesk program. Many years ago, the school I now call home, had a student helpdesk, but the program faded as our last graduate of the program became a school employee. Now, with inspiration from Burlington, I have set out on an adventure to start up a new student helpdesk at my school. The result? The Ashland High School Student Technology Assist Team (S.T.A.T.) So far, it is a resounding success. 

Our steps to success began around the middle of last school year when I wrote down my ideas and shared them with a few stakeholders.

1. Develop a solid plan that demonstrated a purpose not only for the school, but also for the students
2. Create a needs list and apply for grants to help fund those needs
3. Recruit students to participate in the program
4. Develop a real curriculum so that learning is not solely dependent upon broken computers

The results to date are as good as I could have hoped for and maybe a step better. While at times I feel that managing the student helpdesk course adds a little more chaos to my schedule, I can already feel the results are benefiting the students and the school in ways I could only imagine six months ago. 

Results

1. Students are actively engaged in troubleshooting technical issues on a daily basis and growing their own set of technical skills
2. Students are working on writing skills for two different blogs for the course (one of which will be public within the next few weeks)
3. Students are helping other students and teachers make better use of their time in school
4. Students are coming back for more, often forgoing their studies to be working on the helpdesk!

The Program

• Currently there are 13 students in the program who were each chosen and/or vetted
• Two to three students work the helpdesk each period of the day 
• Students are also expected to do a significant amount of writing for this course. This includes blog posts on how-to, product reviews, product comparisons, and personal reflections.
• Students are becoming familiar with multiple platforms and devices. Having received over $5000 in grants from our local education foundation and the BAA, we have created a collection of tools that allow the students to work efficiently and that help mimic what they expect to see in the field. Devices we currently own include: iPad, iPod touch, Nexus 7, iMac, HP laptop, Chromebook, and a MacBook Air.
• Students are expected to study a programming language of their choice. This independent study portion of the program will culminate in a presentation to the other team members and key stakeholders in the program at the end of each semester.

Today marks our fourteenth day of classes. The students are already running the helpdesk with efficiency in turn-around time, and they are creating the team feeling I was imagining months ago. Students stop by during studies just to see if there is more they can do, and often I have to kick them out so they get to their next class on time.

While it is still early in our school year, I am optimistic that the abilities of my students will continue to grow as they are challenged by the troubleshooting tasks as well as the projects they take on as part of this course. I expect there will be bumps along the way and look forward to seeing the program grow as we consider a possible 1:1 implementation in the future.

If you are considering a student helpdesk in your school, or simply have questions, please leave comments below or contact me directly via Twitter or email.

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Chad McGowan is a high school technology teacher and professional development specialist in educational technology. Over the past 16 years, Chad has taught a variety of math and computer courses for grades 7-12. Since 2000, Chad has been guiding other professionals, pre-k-12, in educational technology. Follow Chad on Twitter @ahstechteacher, chadkm@gmail.com, and through this blog.

Professional Development using Schoology

Last year I wrote an article about using Edmodo for professional development. It was well received and continues to be well read. As the times continue to change and the technology at my fingertips gets stronger, my choices in technology continue to evolve. This past Fall I piloted Schoology and then fully adopted it for my high school classes in January. Now I am doing the same for my professional development courses.

Two weeks ago I began teaching my second PD course via Schoology. As with my high school courses, I am thoroughly sold on the quality and value of using Schoology. Three important factors in delivering quality online professional development have led me to share my interest in Schoology: seamless communication between participants and the instructor; participants can easily find materials provided; the instructor can provide quality, timely feedback to help participants understand their progress.

6 Keys to Fostering Quality Online Discussions

If there is one thing I know about fostering quality online discussions with students, it is that thinking about having them won't make them happen. Creating an online discussion that is more than just functional has been a quest of mine for several years now. I started four years ago with a high school video production course. Every year since then I have worked to develop the quality of the discussions, and I have been willing to shift platforms to find exactly what I want.

 Fostering a continuous, quality online discussion requires these six key ingredients:

• Relevance
• Teacher involvement
• Student involvement
• Schedule
• Expectations
• Commitment & Patience

Relevance

The most important part of an online discussion is holding a discussion on something that is both relevant to the course and relevant to the students. Teachers should avoid creating online discussions just for the sake of doing it. Why hold a discussion online if it could be completed in five minutes in a classroom? Students are much more interested in participating when they are interested in the topic and there can be a lot to say about it.

Teacher Involvement

Fostering quality discussion also means modeling quality discussion. While trying to create an online forum for most of my classes, I find that I can burn out quickly in trying to be part of every discussion. Instead, I find a balance that sustains the conversation and sustains my participation. I do this by trying to read everything (Edmodo makes this really easy) and by only replying when the conversation needs a boost or when there is a direct question I should reply to. Three things to remember:

1. Don't get in the way.
2. Ask good questions to foster more thoughts and discussion.
3. Respond as needed, focusing on student questions, misguided responses, and items of interest.

Student Involvement

Students are often only asked to be involved in the discussion through posting responses to the teacher's questions. To enrich students' participation, the teacher can hand over the reigns of developing online discussion to the students. Ask all students to develop questions, pick out five favorites, then let students decide on the top ideas each week. This can be done through online polling, response systems, etc. The teacher can also have a student or a group of students responsible for moderating a discussion. This technique is particularly effective after students have had some experience with online discussions, and is great to experiment with later in the year or in courses that are offered at different levels (i.e. Web Design 1, Web Design 2, etc.)

Schedule

If both teacher and students are new to online discussion, they will find it is like flexing a new muscle. Creating a schedule of discussions and keeping to it can make a huge difference in the quality of the discussions. I highly recommend requiring participation be complete within one week. Also, try to keep to a schedule that includes posting a new topic each week. Getting it down to a habit will keep the students coming back!

Expectations

Establish clear expectations in the beginning. If the discussion is not required, some students who may actually love getting involved could end up never logging in. Have a clear set of guidelines that indicates if participation is graded, how it is graded, and what is considered participation.
Things to consider are:

• How students initially respond
• How they respond to the ongoing conversation
• How they use the Internet to find resources, post links and even videos. 

I grade each weekly discussion on a ten point scale. I give up to eight points for student initial responses to the topic of the week, and up to two additional points for how a student engages with classmates in further discussion. Teachers should experiment to find what works best for their class.

Commitment and Patience

Have a clear commitment to fostering quality online discussions. Allow for the patience to struggle, fall down, and most importantly, get back up. Each time this happens it will be a valuable lesson to carry forward. It took me two years of discussions with the same course content before I felt confident enough to expanded to all of my courses. Everyone takes a different path. Those who are committed to online discussion as a tool for improving learning AND have the patience to try different things will have the most success.

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Choosing a Platform

There are several platforms that people use for online discussions. I am currently an avid user of Edmodo. In the past, I have tried Google Groups as well as Yahoo Groups. I also know other teachers who dedicate space on their websites through Moodle or a wiki, such as Wikispaces, to hold online discussions with students. These are just a few.

Summary
Today I have three different discussion groups going with three different courses I teach and they continue to improve and expand. Just last week I had a student feed a tweet into our discussion by using our class hashtag (a commonly used technique among those who use Twitter.) As my experience with social media expands and the boundaries breakdown, the future of online discussion becomes brighter and the possibilities become endless.