Web sites for on-line courses need to be simple in design and well organized in its content presentation. Students need to be informed up front about the course format, outcomes and expectations. Students need to be forewarned about potential technology-based problems and they can find answers in the FAQs section. It is important to avoid having on-line activities that students perceive as busy work. Reliable and knowledgeable help desk staff who can troubleshoot course-related technology problems.
Students when confronted with technology-based problems have nowhere to go except the instructor.
Many times the instructors are not equipped to handle these technical problems. The institution needs to provide reliable and knowledgeable help desk staff who can respond with immediacy and accuracy to the students' concerns. Many times, in my experience, students find themselves being shuttled from one technology support staff to another because nobody knows what to do. These are my initial comments for this panel session. It's a good thing that we are online, so you can't see the mess on my desk as I enter into this conversation.