Welcome to the eCampus NZ whānau and our Getting Started Toolkit.
My name is Rebecca, and this is Orianne and Josh. We studied online using eCampus NZ too, and we’re here to tell you a little more about the journey ahead.
Don’t worry if you’re feeling a little nervous about starting your course – we did too! By the time you’ve worked through this toolkit and explored the materials on this site, you’ll have all the information you need to set yourself up for success.
Well, instead of attending lectures, classes, labs or tutorials, all course materials are delivered in an online space. In the eCampus NZ world, we call this space the eCampus NZ portal. We’ll show you around the eCampus NZ portal on the next page.
As you move through each course you are enrolled in, you’ll read course materials, complete learning activities online, watch videos, complete your own research, and have discussions with your course facilitator and other learners. This will prepare you to complete your assessments.
Each time you begin a new course, you’ll meet your course facilitator, who is there to guide you through the course and answer your questions. Your facilitator will check in during the first week to make sure you have logged in to each course and will track your progress throughout your learning journey. They will communicate with you through the course announcements on your Course Home Page (don’t forget to check these).
You’ll also have a team of dedicated student advisors to help you. Student advisors can give you advice about planning and time management and will be there to support you as you work towards your goals.
Just like face-to-face learning, courses on eCampus NZ have set start and end dates and assessment deadlines, and you’ll need to make regular progress in each course you are enrolled in.
This means logging in regularly (at least every 2-3 days), completing activities, contributing to forums, submitting assessments on time, and responding to messages from your facilitator and student advisor. You’ll check off each course section as you complete it (find out how in the ‘Moving through your course’ section on the next page). This will help you and your facilitator track your progress.
Here’s a golden rule: If you’re taking more than one course at a time, you need log into all of your courses in the first week and make sure you’re making progress and meeting assessment deadlines in each of them. Checking the assessment schedule for your programme will help you create a study schedule and manage your time.
You’ll find very detailed information about course completion requirements in the Course Overview section of each course you’re enrolled in. If you’re not sure how to find this, check out the ‘Can you show me around the portal?’ section on the next page.
The best piece of advice we can give you is to never be whakamā about asking for help. Facilitators and student advisors love hearing from learners and their whānau. If they can’t help, they’ll connect you with someone who can.
That’s all from us for now.
But before we go, we want to say a big congratulations on your decision to study. Karawhiua e hoa mā! Give it your all!
