Element 15: Support

What is this element about?

This element focuses on the ways in which all learners can access information and services to support their learning.

Why is it important?

Students may be in need of a range of support services as they progress through their university experience. Support needs to be accessible and available in a timely manner. The diverse student base reflects the need to provide a wide range of services and information as to what is available in various formats.

As institutions face the challenge of providing learning support for an increasingly diverse cohort of students, there are specific development opportunities teachers can provide students. These include helping to facilitate (not reinvent) the necessary skills for the successful completion of tasks and the development of tertiary literacies. This can be done by creating an atmosphere of partnership between teachers and learners and by providing a contextual overview of the different models of support available at the institution. The challenge is to move away from just providing “guides” to a more inclusive model that promotes the conversational models, thereby encouraging a shared approach to student learning. At the end of the day, Student support is a shared activity across many departments, including course staff, academic advisors and the student peer mentors. (ACODE, 2017, p. 9-10).

This element relates to the following research and practice informed guidelines/ frameworks:

TELAS Guidelines

• STANDARD 3: The online learning environment includes administrative, technical and learning information and support.

UNE Learning Standards

• 4. Encourage academic excellence and deep learning:
  Our learning experiences are designed to reflect a commitment to academic excellence and foster deep approaches to learning. They are evidence-based and built upon research, innovation, evaluation, and review for continuous improvement.

What can I do?

Some things you can do:

• Include links to relevant services, information and policies are provided
• Provide clear instructions for accessing technical support resources are provided
• Provide clear and consistent instructions/guides/best-practice-methods for using the technology (in the relevant context) are provided.
• Ensure information and support to answer learner questions is provided.
• Include links to Studiosity
• Include links to PASS

Help and Support

Teaching Online @ UNE contains information on assessment design.

Contact the Learning Design team for specific unit related guidance and advice: learningdesign@une.edu.au

First Year and Academic support Advisors.

Student Accessibility & Wellbeing Office

Supporting resources

ACODE. (2017). Threshold standards for online. Retrieved from https://www.acode.edu.au/pluginfile.php/1530/mod_resource/content/1/ACODE_TSFOLE_draft_1.2.pdf

TELAS Framework https://www.telas.edu.au/framework/

UNE Online Learning Standards: https://myune.sharepoint.com/sites/academic-transformation/SitePages/Principals-for-Designing-Learning-Experiences-Online.aspx