FROM HELP REQUESTS TO A HELP CENTER MANAGING MOODLE SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION

WHO WE ARE Bret Brinkman – Instructional Applications Operational Expert Eura Szuwalski – Learning Management Systems Support Technician University of California, Santa Barbara, Letters and Sciences Instructional Technology

INSTITUTION DESCRIPTION – UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA

GAUCHOSPACE: UCSB’S MOODLE-BASED LMS Approximately 1200 Academic course sites per quarter. Housed in College of Letters and Sciences, with centralized support. Programming team of three full-time employees; support team of two full- time employees plus graduate students.

GauchoSpace Support Training Help Tickets Documentation Three-tiered Moodle Support System

1. TRAINING  Mandatory Moodle Orientation Training  Overview of Upgrade trainings  Other workshops as needed Easy to find information

2. HELP REQUEST  /Ticketing system  ZenDesk ticketing system  communication with users  Drop-in Support – Collaborate Faculty Resource Center  Set office hours  Trained graduate student staff  Able to easily communicate with FTE

3. DOCUMENTATION: Visible Adaptable Simple Searchable Key Pieces for a Successful Help Center

Student FAQ

Sample“Question” article

Sample Detailed article

VISIBLE Prominent link to get more help Prominent link in GauchoSpace to Help Center

ADAPTABLE – HIGHLIGHTING RELEVANT TOPICS Summer 2015 Layout Fall 2015 Layout Flexibility in the layout of the home page

ADAPTABLE – PROMOTING NEW TOPICS  Address the needs of users with additional support and documentation  Add pages to provide solutions or best practices  Use eye-catching colors to promote

SIMPLE  Step-by-step instructions  Most pages in form of questions  Screenshots ONLY when necessary  Videos ONLY when necessary

SEARCHABLE

ANALYTICS – QUANTIFY YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS Help center page views for key pages Popular search terms and results Repeat help tickets

OUTCOMES OF NEW HELP CENTER Over 34,000 help center page views during the academic year. Reduction of help tickets for the academic year by 45% compared to the previous year. Courses using the gradebook increased by 11% and advanced learning activity use increased by 16% for the year. Help ticket requests Gradebook Use Learning Activity Use

SPECIAL ISSUES - MOODLE UPGRADES Fall Upgraded from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.5 Summer Upgraded from Moodle 2.5 to Moodle 2.8

KEY TAKEAWAYS Three prongs of support: training, help tickets and help center (the anchor) Help center: Visible, Adaptable, Simple, Searchable Analytics for optimizing documentation and visibility Support in times of transition / software upgrades

CONTACT US: Bret Brinkman Eura Szuwalski