This project was titled Training for Financial Aid Advisors. My target audience is adults over 18 who have already completed the two-week Financial Aid Basics course and are entering the Financial Aid Advisor role. This is a four-day training that will compile the relevant Financial Aid topics learned in Basics that apply to the Advisor role for an incoming student at the university. Learners will be performing a mock call with a tenured peer acting as a student, and will be assessed on their ability to relay key financial aid obstacles, provide courteous customer service, accurate financial aid information, and manageable expectations and next steps for the student. The learning objectives for this project are:
- Describe steps on how to clear reject codes on the FAFSA
- Determine a student's accurate financial aid eligibility
- Identify all of the possible obstacles present in a student's file
- Collect all admissions and financial aid documentation that is required in order to start classes.
Peer reviews stated that one of the strengths of this project was the organization and also the type of knowledge and pace of the course. They also liked the due dates being laid out pretty exactly. I did this because I know learners like to know exactly what to do, when, and the To Do and Calendar feature on the LMS is tied directly to the assignment due dates. Since the course is only 4 days long, I wanted to make it very clear that it's intended to be one module per day, with assignments due day of, and responses due the next day (with the new assignment due the same date as the previous assignment's responses.). I really hoped my LMS was organized and intuitive for the adult learner.
I chose the Canvas LMS because I have used Canvas in online courses before, and it is very streamlined and visually easy to use. What it lacks in flashy graphics and customization, it makes up for in being familiar, not distracting or confusing, and in making heavy uses of modules that you can set up to pace the student.
Here is the final presentation of the training. The new hires will first take a two-week Financial Aid Basics course, and my training picks up after this portion. My training component is a total of four days.
Here is another screenshot of the LMS. Here, the instructor is able to disseminate pertinent information to all sections of the training course by using Canvas's "Announcements" feature.
Here is a deeper look into the content within the separate modules. Each module includes a variation of discussions, quizzes, group work, lectures, and instructional videos.
This is the launch page of the LMS that I created for this training course. Each module is only accessed once certain pre-requisites are met, specifically, once the module prior to it is completed.
Here is a mind map I created using MindNode. This helped me organize the different elements of my training, such as the various instructional materials, learning objectives, and the overall purpose and audience of the program.
