February 11, 2014

Today was my first day of shadowing. I shadowed a TLT Student Help Desk Consultant also known as a Student Technician. It happened to be the first time a consultant has worked in the North Reading Room (NRR) Collaborative Learning Areas (CoLAs) so I got a chance to see how it is like to teach new consultants how to work in the CoLAs in NRR. The main important reason why people come to the CoLAs is to work or study in a group. The one thing she taught the consultant is how to reserve a booth/whiteboard/Copycam/Smartboard for a group of students when they ask. What most students do not realize is that they can reserve a booth by themselves online. The CoLA is a great area to work in groups and this is where the TLT Student Help Desk consultant is located. The photos on the right showcases how the booth looks like (top photo), how the Copy Cam looks like (second photo), how the Smart Board looks like (third photo), and what is looks like to work with white boards around the round tables provided (last photo). It is truly a great place for collaboration, as what is it meant for. However, other than teaching consultants how it is like to work in NRR CoLA, TLT Student Help Desk Consultants have more responsibilities. TLT Student Help Desk Consultants address any issues in four ways via phone call, chat, email and in person (walk-ins).

• Phone calls: TLT Student Help Desk Consultants receive a lot of phone calls from students, faculty and anyone who has their hands on the help desk number. It is their responsibility to pick up and address the issue in a professional manner. I learned phone etiquette and what to ask the user to make sure they could be helped efficiently.
• Chat: If there are any issues with a program that DoIT offers, on the DoIT webpage under that program, there will be a link that says “Chat live with the TLT Student Help Desk!” This does go to a live person and I got to see what it was like to be on the Student Help Desk end (receiver) and what it looks like to be a student who is in need of assistance (sender).
• Emails: There are always emails to be addressed even if it was formally addressed by other Student Help Desk Consultants. I learned proper email etiquette as to how to respond to emails and the important as well as different questions to ask to make sure the issue has been addressed appropriately.
• Walk-Ins: Walk-ins are generally students who have quick questions, have to update their clickers or have clicker issues. However, most of the time, Student Help Desk Consultants deal with clients at a distance and face to face interaction is not as common.

In general, these are the approaches students can take to reach a TLT Student Help Desk Consultant. Other than helping clients at a distance, TLT Student Help Desk Consultants put on public workshops to enhance the technological knowledge of students and faculty who are willing to incorporate them into their studies and courses respectively.

Workshops

Public workshops held around campus are taught by TLT Student Help Desk Consultants. There are various topics that target science majors such as Excel for Biological Lab reports or for general enhancement such as formatting your Resume.

I feel that teaching in general is something that will help me after in the future. I am looking into coaching others about how to be healthy in such a hectic lifestyle. Since that topic is sort of broad and very subjective, I know it is important to know at least the basis of physiology and nutrition as well as kinesiology.

I personally have taken these public workshops and I feel that they are different from many other workshops I have taken due to the fact it is geared towards the public. The way that it was taught was very simple yet comprehensive.

I am hoping to get more of an understanding of what TLT Student Help Desk Consultants do by observing my mentor.