JIT Performance Tips for Online Students by Frank L. Christ

In my online courses, I use a learning assistance activity to alert students to course problems that they have exhibited and to recommend solutions for them to overcome or obviate the problem. I have named this pedagogical activity “JIT (Just-In-Time) Performance Tips.”  A few references to the JIT (Just-In-Time) concept and its specific uses can be found here.

Each performance tip is announced through an image that precedes the tip. Most tips involve learning and study strategies problems although some tips focus on course management, Internet, or computer competency problems that students exhibit in the online course. JIT Performance Tips are inserted in individual emails, global emails, course announcements, Discussion Board forums, and prelections as needed to alert students to problems that they are exhibiting in the online course.

Below are some examples of the JIT Performance Tips that I have used with students in my online courses along with the image that precedes each one. Note that some of the acronyms and specialized vocabulary used in the tips are explained in footnotes at the end of this document.

In the first week of your course, overview all of the on screen course material (master schedule, syllabus, etc.) as well as your assigned textbooks so that you have some idea of the extent and possible difficulty of the course.

Look at the course announcement every day - preferably early in the day. Additions, deletions, and other changes may be added. You can identify the changes since they are printed in a red font after the initial announcement post on Mondays.

Be sure to read your classmates professional Information in the Discussion Board and to view their homepages in the Communication section so that you become part of your learning community.

Always end your email with your signature file so that the instructor can easily recognize you and your affiliation. Your signature file contains your full name, institution, email address, and the URL of your web page if you have one. For directions in creating a signature file, go to Help in Netscape and Explorer and search for "signature."

Access the Discussion Board at least once a day. Scroll down the list of forums. If you see under “Messages” a yellow highlight over a number preceding the word “New,” this indicates that one or more messages have been added – messages that you have not read. Click on the underlined title of the forum to see the unread messages. Example: [11 messages]

If you have not already done so, start your course three-hole binder to keep course material where you can read and refer to it off-line. Use dividers in your course binder to store course information like the syllabus, the master schedule,     

Follow this daily routine for online course mastery: 1) log on to course and look at announcements to see if there have been any changes or additions, 2) Look at all the Discussion Board forums to see if there are any new messages (A yellow bar can be seen at the right of the forum description indicating that there are new messages, 3) Review your course binder to see what you need to do for your course.

You may want to try Dr. Benson's stress reduction exercise --an exercise that is free, that can be done almost anywhere, takes about seven minutes, and WORKS to reduce galvanic skin response, blood pressure, and promotes deep breathing. Directions for it are now accessible in the External Links section as Stress Reduction Exercise.

Use a routine to stay on schedule in this online course. Every morning, access DEED 605 and look at the announcement to see if there is a new one or if there have been changes (in a red font) to the current announcement. Next, look at the Discussion Board. Wherever you see a yellow highlight which is to the right of the forum title, open the forum and look at the new message to see if it may be relevant to your course questions, concerns, assignments.

Your catch-up week is a time to work on your remaining activities and assignments. A list of them along with point values follows: Annotated Bibliography/400 points Next Steps Paper/400 points, 230 points for interaction in weekly DB forums and with the V VS, Open Book Exam/300 points BQRQ/75 points for a total of 1405 points.

Always place your name and the title of the assignment at the top of any assignments. Most of you did not identify yourself and the specific assignment when you posted it to the Digital Drop Box. Never turn in an assignment without identifying yourself and the topic of the assignment. Use a footer on every page to identify it so that your instructor knows to whom each page of an assignment belong

Review the special Learning Support Help manual “Reading & Answering Reading Questions” and follow its recommendations as you answer the reading questions.

Whenever you make an assertion in a professional paper, document its source unless it is a universally known fact.

Always check any URL that you post so that you know that it is a hyperlink to the site that you are citing.

 Before publishing their writing, writers often have others read their writing to catch unclear statements, misspellings, grammatical errors, lack of clarity, and critical thinking inconsistencies.

Find someone -- a friend, colleague, neighbor, the computer expert on your campus, a campus technology help desk -- that you can ask for help when you have a problem with your computer and especially with the Blackboard courseware

Find the approved APA style for your citations quickly by referring to your course binder where you have a print version of APA examples as listed in the 5th Edition of the Publication Manual

To find the approved APA style for your citations quickly, store APA examples as listed in the 5th Edition of the Publication Manual (2001) in your course binder.

Always plan your workweek to include quality time for both online and offline course reading, reflection, and writing. Then set due dates to complete your proposed tasks. Finally, follow through and “work your plan.”

Always read the Announcements each time that you access Blackboard for any additions to the original announcement. Note that additions to an original announcement will be printed in a red font. Scroll down to the end of the announcement. Your screen may not show all the announcement items until you do so. Most additions are placed.

Look again at the "Course Reading Questions Help Manual' that is in Learning Support to remind yourself how to begin answering reading questions by starting your answer as a statement based on the question.

The Help Manual, "Course Reading Questions Help Manual" which you can find in the "Learning Support" section, is helpful for you to use as you answer these reading questions. Print it and store in your Course Binder for offline study and use.

In grading answers that do not answer the specifics of a question, I can see that one problem some of you have relates to how you misread the question and therefore answer the question in your mind brilliantly but you have not answered the question that was asked.

Consider this: Grade your assignment before your instructor does. Use the instructor's directions to grade your assignment.

Use Blackboard's "Electric Blackboard" to make notes while you are in this course. You will find it in Student Tools. When you click on it, a small window opens that you can use to make notes as you are reading course materials. Your notes will remain in it until you cut and paste to Notepad or Wordpad or until you choose "Close." Choosing Submit after you make a note or add a note, will save it and you will view it each time that you choose to use it. Click on the "X" box at top right of the window to close it or the "-" to minimize it for later use as needed

You may be able to improve your course skills and performance by reading the "Learning Support” article: “Advice from Former Students," which you, of course, have printed and stored in your course binder.

Read, print, and use the "Task Organization Notes" page that is in Course Documents. It is a useful task management tool for your course assignments.

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

LSCHE is the most important web portal in the course external links. Consider book marking it on your Internet home page

Remember to use the GSU Electronic Library for collateral reading on course topics. You can access it from Blackboard in "External Links."

Begin your "Next Steps" paper now and set aside time each week to update it

All assignments for this course are to be written from the perspective of a learning support center director not from that of a developmental educator

JIT Performance Tips are developed as a student or group of students exhibit what the course instructor considers a course management or learning and study skills problem. By placing your tips in a word document, you will have an effective and efficient way of assisting your online students with the skills and competencies that they need in their online course activities. Please feel free to copy and paste and adapt the JIT performance tips listed above for your use with your students in your online courses.