Getting Help Getting Help While teaching online courses, you may find that you have questions or face various types of issues and aren’t sure who to contact for help. This video will provide a who’s who of PMI Online, provide you with options for technical support and teaching tips, and give you some guidelines on who to contact in which situations..

Who’s Who Faculty Coordinator Student Services Coordinator Online Education Director Registrar Online Education Coordinator Program Director LMS Administrator Provides training and guidance for instructors, maintains instructor files. Manages student records. Oversees the courses and students in a particular program. There are two—one coordinates operations, the other development of online courses. Are you familiar with the people who make up PMI’s Online Education Department? Match each person with the types of things he or she is responsible for. Manages technical aspects of the online learning platform. Assists students with issues such as work/life balance Responsible for the Online Education Department.

Who’s Who in Online Ed Show names and descriptions matched up. While there is definitely overlap in the positions in the online department, these are the general responsibilities of each member. LMS Administrator – The LMS Administrator has knowledge of and responsibility for the online platform, including technical issues with course setup and system functions. Online Faculty Coordinator – The Online Faculty Coordinator provides ongoing training and support to online instructors. Student Services Coordinator – The Student Services Coordinator assists instructors with student attendance and assists students with issues related to attendance, etc. Online Education Director – The Online Education Director oversees all the staff within and workings of the Online Education Department. Registrar – the registrar creates and maintains student records, including transcripts from previous academic programs, applications, and all the required forms and files. Online Education Coordinator – The two online coordinators manage online operations and course development. Operations includes textbook orders, instructor payment, and student enrollments. Course development includes the creation and revision of courses, course setup for each section, and maintaining an updated book list. Program Director – Each program has its own director. The director oversees development and revision of courses in the program, as well as student success.

Technical Support Insert support flow chart graphic There are two helpdesks at PMI—one is for Blackboard and student support, the other for instructor email and portal support. Please review the flowchart to determine when to contact each one. When students have issues within a course, if it relates to content (i.e. they don’t understand a particular question on an assignment) you can contact the program director if you are unable to answer the student’s questions. If it relates to functionality (e.g. accessing assignments, broken links, etc.) students should contact the helpdesk. Please remind students that they should use the form that is linked to within every course when contacting the helpdesk. Filling out the form provides the information the helpdesk needs to be able to narrow down and solve technical issues.

Teaching Resources Sloan Consortium Online Colleges: Inside Online Learning eLearning Guild Illinois Online Network This online course contains several modules to help make you a better teacher, and you can always come back to it, even after you complete modules. There are other resources available to you, including your program director, the Online Faculty Coordinator, and other instructors. Here are some sites you might find useful.

Who you gonna call? In general, your main point of contact is the Online Faculty Coordinator. If the OFC isn’t able to help you, he or she will be able to direct you to someone who can. For technical support, the helpdesk is your best bet. If there are questions (from you or students) about course content, the program director can generally help. For issues related to student progress or conduct, you should contact both the program director and student services.

Success! Remember that PMI’s focus is on student success, and by providing our instructors (YOU) with the support you need, we can help you help our students succeed. Please feel free to ask for help when you need it!