Higher Ed Webinar Recap - Virtual Training Success at Philadelphia University

Greetings from the higher ed team! Pia Roper from Philadelphia University recently presented a webinar on Philadelphia University's use of Atomic Learning. The webinar provided some great insights on how Atomic Learning can be utilized campus-wide. You may view the archive here.

Some of the key points of Roper's presentation included:

USE
Philadelphia University uses Atomic Learning as an extension of their helpdesk, creating a 24/7 presence for users. Round-the-clock access ensures that support is available during off-hours, and for international users in the distance ed programs. They also use Atomic Learning to train the helpdesk staff, so they are better able to assist users who call in for help.

Moving beyond the help desk, Roper provides a variety of examples, from faculty training to student instruction. The webinar is a must-see for anyone looking to make the most of their existing subscription or seeking a cross-campus solution.

PROMOTION
As Pia stated during her presentation, Atomic Learning usage rates are highly dependent on active promotion of it as a valuable campus resource. Philadelphia University strives to make sure their faculty, staff and students are aware of the resources available to them, and bring Atomic Learning to the forefront of their user self-service portals, webpage and LMS.

Philadelphia University also offers informational handouts in new hire and new student orientation packets, makes presentations at faculty meetings, and hosts a variety of Atomic Learning training sessions.

In the webinar, Roper highlights how her team was challenged to train nearly 1000 individuals on Office 2007. The team hosted learning sessions in a lab environment where the users were invited to view Atomic Learning tutorials, and as questions arose the helpdesk staff was available for 1-on-1 training and assistance.

FACULTY PERCEPTION
Webinar attendees offered some additional insight into implementing a solution campus wide. One of the most interesting comments during the Q&A session of the presentation was an inquiry into whether faculty at PU were at all threatened by the use of Atomic Learning in the classroom. According to Pia, most faculty are very happy to incorporate Atomic Learning into their classrooms as it allows the instructor to focus on the content of the class instead of teaching the technology needed to complete an assignment.

ACCESS OPTIONS
Some attendees asked for clarification on access options. Philadelphia University currently utilizes IP access and will be incorporating LDAP in the near future. As a whole, Atomic Learning hopes to have LDAP more widely available for most users by the end of 2010. It is important to note we also have a number of additional access options. Depending on your license and the product purchased, a campus account can be set up with shared logins, or individual accounts. For shared logins we can provide a generic/shared username(s) and password(s), IP addressing, and portal string authentication. For individual accounts we can use our user-submission form, CAS and the portal string option as well.

If you have any questions about the items presented in the webinar, or would simply like additional information on Atomic Learning, please feel free to contact me at mgroth@atomiclearning.com.

Thanks!

Mary Groth
Higher Education Account Manager