Beginning with registration for fall 2019, all students taking an online class for the first time at NMC will be required to complete an Online Learning Orientation (OLO). In addition, any student who has not been successful (2.0 or better) in a previous NMC online course will be required to complete the Online Learning Orientation. Once a student completes OLO, they will receive a Moodle badge which will be reported to Banner so they will not have complete OLO again.

Students will see a notification about the OLO requirement in the Banner system before they register for an online course and will also get an email upon completion of registration. Completion of OLO and earning the badge unlocks access to their course in Moodle. Multiple notifications will be sent to students between the time they register and the beginning of the semester prompting them to complete OLO. Students should be able to complete it in 30 – 40 minutes.

The goal of a mandatory OLO is to improve student success in NMC online courses by helping students understand if online learning is the right choice for them and if so, preparing them to be a successful online student with tips about study habits, time management, how to prepare their computer, how to navigate Moodle, and how to get help if they need it. Bay College in Escanaba implemented a mandatory online learning orientation in 2016 and saw a significant jump in success rates (8%) and a drop in withdrawal rates (6%). The IT and distance learning team at Bay has been a great resource for us as we work to implement our own mandatory OLO.