Page 74 - Teaching Innovation for the 21st Century

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Teaching Innovation for the 21st Century | Showcasing UJ Teaching and Learning 2021
2.
The Online First-Year Seminar/Orientation modules
The First-Year Seminar/Orientation (FYS) has traditionally been an almost exclusively face-to-face engagement between newly arriving first-year students and the institution. With the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the whole FYS had to be re-conceptualised and effectively led through the UJ FYS committee. A FYS shell module was created as a Blackboard organisation and it contained all the general information and support introductions. This ‘shell’ was then copied, and eight customised Faculty/College modules created for the FYS. The online FYS modules were further developed and honed during 2021 and used again during 2022. The modules have proven to be successful and will form the core of the intentionally blended FYS that is being planned for 2022. An additional advantage of this approach is that it has enabled UJ to effectively implement an extended orientation that continues for most of the first semester of any given year.
3.
The student-success influencer project
As the SOS module was being developed, the idea of student success influencers was conceptualised. These students would use various social media platforms to inform and encourage students to use the available resources. The concept was tested in 2020 and then expanded to include faculty/college-linked influencers, housed and managed in ADC, but linked to the faculties who chose to participate. Student-success influencers have created and distributed relevant information and content, adding another layer of student success support using senior students in a peer-assisted student success approach. In this way, ADC is exploring the use of the digital zone of proximal development to the advantage of both the students and the university.