Monica AXELRAD
Training Coordinator for office applications at the University of Geneva
The Psychology and Education Sciences faculty at the University of Geneva has chosen MEDIAplus eLearning from ENI Editions as their e-learning solution. In virtual classrooms, students are taught how to use office software applications.
Created almost 450 years ago, the University of Geneva is considered today as the second most prestigious business school in Switzerland. The Psychology and Education Sciences faculty has chosen to provide office application training in response to the following: “our students were lacking the necessary skills in office software applications and consequently they lost time and were inefficient when responding to assignments given to them by their teachers” explains Monica Axelrad, Training Coordinator for office applications at the University of Geneva.
The choice of an e-learning solution rather than traditional lectures becomes immediately obvious with students who tend to be nomadic and do not have the same level of skills.
“We compared several e-learning solutions on the market and finally we opted for ENI’s MEDIAplus eLearning because the learning process actually takes place within the software being studied” details Monica Axelrad.
The project is based upon voluntary participation; each student having the choice to sign-up for online lessons or not. Students are enrolled in virtual classes of 15. Another feature of this scheme is that tutorials are undertaken by students known as “Monitors”. They are also studying at the university but have been trained with MEDIAplus eLearning to obtain ECDL Certification. “The Monitors provide invaluable advice and serve to lead and motivate the students” added the Coordinator.
Each student can access his MEDIAplus eLearning training from his own PC or by using a self-service computer provided by the faculty. At the same time they have access to the administration platform where they can obtain information relating to virtual classes from their Monitor.
“As an authorised ECDL centre, the University of Geneva provides students the opportunity of taking the ECDL Certification exam” explains Monica Axelrad. “However, for financial reasons, this certification is not accessible to everybody. So what we do instead is to offer an evaluation using MEDIAplus eLearning. If students obtain the required percentage of achievement, we issue them a certificate from the University. They find this very motivating” she adds.
The results are very positive, students have taken to the MEDIAplus eLearning tool and have committed themselves to office application training even if they are not obliged to do so.
“I believe the role of the Monitor should not be neglected in this type of training. It is indispensable in my view that a tutor be present for the first lesson in order to explain how to set-up the computer and to use MEDIAplus eLearning correctly” concludes Monica Axelrad.