Please read this introduction!

Taking a training program online can be very efficient and effective. It is also a very “ecological” way to learn. You can work at your own pace, your own timing, and without going anywhere other than your home – or wherever you like to work with your computer.

There has been a lot of research into online learning and, as a result, we have a lot of data about the conditions under which online learning succeeds best.

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Basically it boils down to three critical ingredients:

(1) Your motivation and ability to be self-directed. You don’t “have to go to class” so if you don’t set up some kind of self-directed schedule, it can be very easy to not keep moving along with online lessons. The other side of this is that if you are highly motivated and have the time, you can move through online training much faster than you might be able to get through a traditional “go to the classroom” training.

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(2) Having a sense of communication and community. People who are most successful at online learning tend to become part of a learning community. You may not meet your peers and facilitators in person, but you need to know that you are not working in anonymous isolation. Most specifically, you need to be able to be comfortable communicating with the school staff and know that we are looking for and with you during your training.

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(3) The quality of the information needs to be high. You need to know that your valuable time is not wasted. That is, you need to actually learn. A critical part of this factor is that you learn material that is useful and useable. In other words, you must feel comfortable – throughout the training – that you will end up with knowledge and skills that will make a difference in your life.

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What are some actions steps that we can take to fulfill those requirements?

1. Make a Plan – Make a Schedule

Please make sure that you are comfortable with the idea of being in charge of your online learning. A suggestion is to look at your current schedule with a realistic eye. Is there the time to include this training commitment? Look specifically and make a plan: when will you do your work?

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2. Start One-to-One Communications Now

You will be able to talk with your course instructors directly – both within the course learning platform and in email form. In addition there will be opportunities to have online discussions with others who are enrolled in the program (chat room and discussion board formats).

But please start now. You saw information about the School Director, Dr. Skip Pollock in the introduction section. She oversees the academic and student affairs of CPS. She will be communicating with you throughout the program and would like to get to meet you right from the start. In fact, your first assignment, in Lesson 1 will be to write Dr. Skip an introduction email. The goal will be to let her know who you are, what your goals are for the program and if you have any questions or concerns.

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3. Give Us Feedback about the Training as you go Through

We pledge to you that we have put together a program that has integrity, vigor, interest, and applicability. In addition, we have tried to use the most up-to-date and understandable material available. Given that, we need and want your feedback. Your feedback will help up improve our training. And, of course, if there is a problem with the material, or any other aspect of this training program, we really (really!!) want to hear about it so that we can correct the situation. We’ll ask for anonymous feedback at various points throughout the program (using online survey software that does not identify the respondent) but we sincerely want to hear from you throughout the program. And, of course, we also like hearing about what is working well too.

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© 2009 EcoAid LLC