UW-Platteville Distance Education Blog

By Ian Clark

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville earned a spot on G.I. Job’s list of military friendly schools, characterized by their efforts and successes in recruiting veteran students. G.I. Jobs, a website and magazine that helps current and former members of the military transition successfully into civilian life, formed the list which recognizes the top 15 percent of the most “military friendly” of the nation’s 7,000 schools. Schools on the list range from state universities and private colleges to community colleges and trade schools. The common bond between them is their shared willingness to cater to the unique needs of military students.

The United States government has allocated tens of billions of dollars through the Post-9/11 GI Bill for educating America’s armed forces, providing monies paid directly to schools for tuition, a housing allowance, stipends for books, and other fees associated with higher education.

“Veterans need a trusted friend to help them decide where to get educated,” said Rich McCormack, G.I. Jobs publisher. “This list is especially important now because the recently enacted Post-9/11 GI Bill has given veterans virtually unlimited financial means to go to school. Veterans can now enroll in any school, provided they’re academically qualified.”

Cody Brigman, president of the UWP Veterans Club, while unaware of the new list by G.I. Jobs, was unsurprised. “This campus has a long standing relationship with veterans,” said Brigman. “The Registrar’s Office, which also functions as veterans liaisons, goes to bat for veterans time and again. It is through their dedicated service that many of us on campus are able to concentrate on school work rather than paperwork.”

Brigman also mentioned that many veterans joined their particular branch of service immediately after high school, and that ACT and SAT scores are something that most veterans don’t have before enrolling.

“When a vet leaves his or her branch, it can be at any given time of the year, which doesn’t always lend itself to jumping right into college, but the campus works with us so that we have the chance to get enrolled at our earliest convenience,” added Brigman.

Changes in environment and social structure are also significant issues veterans can have issues with as they begin college. However, UWP has a highly seasoned veteran community that aims to help those in need with these troublesome transitions, and help better acclimate veteran students with their new environment, according to Brigman.

For more information about the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill or other veteran-related questions, contact the Registrar’s Office at (608) 342-1321. To learn more about the UWP Veterans Club, contact Brigman at brigmanc@uwplatt.edu.

By Christine Hawkinson

Is your latest issue of Plexus laying on your coffee table waiting for you to read it?  Don’t ignore it too long, or you may miss deadlines and find yourself out of luck for spring semester courses.

• Are you missing important e-mail because you aren’t using Zimbra?  Find out how to forward your DLC messages to another e-mail address.
   
• Have you noticed a new name on your correspondence from the DLC?  Get up to speed on our staff changes.
   
• Do you have difficulty with online discussions?  Learn some tips to increase your benefits.
   
• Is everything in place for your December graduation?  Finalize your plans today!

By Christine (Schuldes) Storlie

1. Print the Course Calendar for each of your courses. Record all the due dates for assignments and exams on your calendar (electronic organizer, cell phone, or paper calendar – or the pocket calendar you may have received from the Distance Learning Center). Set a reminder on your electronic devices to alert you to upcoming due dates.
    
2. At the beginning of the semester, set a specified amount of time each day to work on class assignments. For example, one student found that by designating one hour each day of the week for studying, she was able to keep up with her coursework much better than when she tried to do everything over the weekend. Or, you could set aside two hours every other day, with larger blocks of study time on Saturday and Sunday.
    
3. Work on your written communication skills. Clearly communicating your ideas is imperative in an online course, especially in courses that require group activities. Effective communication is vital to a virtual team’s success. Allow time to review what you say, checking your content as well as grammar and spelling. Set aside enough time to communicate with your instructor, classmates, and group/team members.
    
4. Check the News on the course home page regularly for each of your courses. Instructors often post important announcements such as
   
   • additional information pertaining to course material
   • details regarding expectations for an assignment
   • upcoming deadlines
   • hints or additional information regarding assignments
   Reading messages from others is an important part of the communication process!
   
   
5. Do not hesitate to ask questions. If the question occurred to you, it is likely that others have the same question and all will benefit.

By John A. Vieth, Information Services, UW-Platteville Distance Learning Center

The recent HighEdWeb 2009 Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, highlighted the latest web technologies and development tools that help improve the website user experience for students in higher education. I was lucky enough to present a session titled “jQuery: An Introduction” to a packed room of about 100 HighEdWeb attendees. In the presentation, I highlighted our own website’s use of jQuery to improve the user experience for visitors at our website. These improvements will be unveiled with the launch of our newly redesigned website on November 1.

Specifically, jQuery has allowed us to make the following improvements to our website using powerful methods that are easy to maintain and reliable across many different web browser softwares:

• Photography slide shows
• Displaying external RSS feeds for content like blogs, announcements, and calendars
• Improved validation of web forms
• Sharing content with multiple web pages
• User interface improvements, like the ability to expand and hide additional information
• Improved display and sorting of data in tables
• And much, much more!

In addition to jQuery, other novel web development techniques are being used to produce our new website. We are excited about the improvements that will make our website easier to navigate for current and prospective students. Mark your calendars for the launch of our new website on November 1, and then check out what’s new.

By Shenita Ray

In September, the Distance Learning Center Assessment Committee reviewed the results from the Summer 2009 Faculty and Course Evaluations. Below is a summary of our findings.

Response Rates:

• 37% for graduate students
• 20% for undergraduate students

Positives Feedback:

• Courses were rigorous and the content was applicable to real-world situations
• Knowledgeable instructors who were accessible and responded to students' questions and concerns

Improvement areas:

• More feedback on assignments and exams
• Assignments required a substantial amount of time

The Assessment Committee has discussed these findings with the Program Coordinators and will be documenting, monitoring, and implementing, when appropriate, solutions to the identified improvement areas.

Project Management Secrets to Success

University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a PMI Globally Accredited education provider, is offering the first in a series of project management webinars on October 6 at noon (EST). The three-part webinar series will culminate with an on-site project management conference at UW-Platteville in the summer of 2010.

The first webinar will be facilitated by Dr. Ginger Levin, PgMP, PMP. Titled “Using Knowledge Management for Effective Project Management”, the webinar will provide guidelines and best practices for integrating lessons learned into project management.

Cost for the webinar is $100 per connection or $75 for students/alumni. Companies are encouraged to connect as a group to take advantage of this opportunity for minimal cost. To register, please visit www.uwplatt.edu/disted/km.

By Melissa Gavin

The best thing about UWP's distance education programs is – the distance. When I was asked to contribute this blog, I looked at my calendar and was slightly concerned about timing since I was going to be out of town. However, this provided my topic. One of the best perks of the distance learning programs is the ability to travel while still going to school.

Unlike a traditional brick and mortar university, distance education allows students to participate in class whether at home or on the road. The key to success in this program is having an Internet connection available at some point during the day. As a student, I was able to travel with my family or volunteer my time out of town as long as the hotel I stayed at had a connection. This flexibility gave me a lot of freedom that I wouldn't have had at any other university. It allowed me to travel to weddings, special events, and for vacation at times when most students are not able to leave school.

Being at a distance is also a perk for being an active alumnus. As long as I have access to a phone line and Internet, I am able to be an active alumni member through the Alumni Advisory Board (AAB). Not only does the AAB allow me to stay connected to my alma mater and classmates, it also lets me continue to serve UWP from a distance. Once a month, I meet with fellow alums and members of the Distance Learning Center to discuss various items from mentoring to new developments to providing feedback. This connection is not something I have with the brick and mortar university from which I received my undergraduate degree.