By Zachary Flynn
NAIT is asking new students to sign up for a free orientation course to prepare students for the online learning environment and post-secondary life in the winter semester.
Students can register for the new student orientation and download a free new student checklist through the NAIT orientation website.
The new student orientation will be an asynchronous course through moodle, allowing students to work through the orientation material at their own pace and on their own time.
- The program will help students
- understand NAIT’s culture;
- understand student rights, responsibilities and academic regulations;
- identify programs, resources and services at NAIT;
- experience a sense of belonging and connection to NAIT;
- prepare for the upcoming semester; and
- navigate campus, if students are required to be on campus.
The online asynchronous format is different in comparison to the in-person events hosted on campus pre-pandemic.
Glennis Kennedy, NAIT’s orientation coordinator, said that NAIT had already been looking to do an online asynchronous orientation before the pandemic hit because there were large numbers of students who couldn’t attend the one-time in-person event.
“With the presentation being an online and self-paced format, everyone has the opportunity to access it and benefit from it. Our data shows that 61 per cent more students accessed the self-paced, online presentation in Fall 2020, as compared to the in-person event in Fall 2019,” said Kennedy.
