For an Academic Year

New Student Welfare Suite of eLearning Courses

London (UK), September 2016 - With the increasing demand for student-focused courses, Marshall E-Learning, an eLearning consultancy for higher education, have designed a suite of courses in partnership with universities that is tailored to meet the mental, physical, and emotional needs of today’s students.

The "Student Welfare Suite" contains courses entitled

  • Alcohol and Drug Awareness (developed with Brunel University)
  • Sexual Consent on Campus
  • Diversity Training for Students (developed with St Andrew's University and Manchester University)
  • Social Media Savvy (developed with Canterbury Christchurch University).

Leveraging the subject expertise of university professionals, all of the courses contained in the suite are designed with the student audience in mind. The content has been designed and tested by university professionals to ensure the subject matter is relevant and on point for the higher-education environment.

The Sexual Consent on Campus course is an industry first and was launched at a particularly vital time. With at least one in seven female students becoming victims of sexual assault, universities have been faced with increasing the awareness of issues surrounding consent as a preventative action. It is hoped that this course will make some impact in better preparing students as they begin their university careers.

David Marshall, Managing Director of Marshall E-Learning, said, "For the first time ever, these courses are available to universities in the UK as a complete student package, ideal as part of an induction package or as stand-alone courses. We've really focussed on making sure that everything, from the choice of language to the selection of the voice-over artist, is hand picked to maximise student engagement. We also use highly engaging interactions to ensure our courses are 'lean forwards' rather than passive experiences for students. This includes animations, diagnostic quizzes, drag and drop, sliders, timelines, and hotspots - to name just a few!"

Vincent King, Assistant Director of Commercial Services - Health, Safety, and Environment at Brunel University, who helped develop the Alcohol and Drug Awareness course, added, "We wanted an online course to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs and alcohol aimed at students. I couldn't find anything in the market place, so I went to Marshall E-Learning, who were very responsive to the concept, and we drew up a course outline. It was very rewarding to see the product materialise in an excellent interactive and engaging way, designed to assure user attention over a serious social issue. I think we have achieved that, and I hope it will be a valuable tool in supporting students in the future."

All of the courses in the suite are built to be HTML5 compliant and mobile responsive. This means that the courses work across mobile and tablet devices, as well laptop and desktop devices.

Further information on each course that makes up the Student Welfare Suite is as follows:

  • Alcohol and Drug Awareness: This course was designed in partnership with Brunel University and covers the topics such as the short and long-term effects of alcohol and drug usage on the body; how much is a unit of drink; the most common types of drugs and their effects; and the social, legal and academic consequences of either drinking too much or drug use. The course also includes a diagnostic quiz at the start, so students can assess whether their drinking habits are damaging their health before starting the course.
  • Sexual Consent on Campus: This course demonstrates to students what constitutes consent, how certain situations and contexts can affect consent, myth busting, and how to get consent. The tone of the course addresses the subject in a manner that doesn't patronises or vilify, but addresses the matter in mature, direct way.
  • Diversity Training for Students: By their nature, universities are hugely diverse places, particularly in terms of age, race, religion, and culture. Our diversity training for students covers these topics to ensure that students understand and respect differences and how inclusive behaviours and practices can translate into greater employability once they leave university. Students will also understand the differences between bullying and harassment and how they relate to the Equality Act.
  • Social Media Savvy: Social media is a huge part of students' lives on and off campus. However, sometimes online etiquette can leave a lot to be desired, which can result in damage to students' and the university's reputation. This course tackles the issues of online behaviour, teaching students best practice when it comes to posting online and tips for what to avoid. It's not all doom and gloom though as the course also teaches students how they can make the most of social media to enhance their learning and future employability.