An orientation module for online marketing education

Universities and higher education institutions are rapidly implementing online teaching systems as both a primary platform for distance education, and as a supporting element for oncampus Marketing courses. In order to maximise the confidence, and subsequent activity levels, of learners using these systems, an online orientation module was developed, based on the first two stages of Salmon's five-step model. It was shown that students involved in the orientation module commenced active participation in their live subject sites sooner than nonorientated students and their initial levels of input into their online discussion forum were higher. However it remains unclear whether the initial impetus of an orientation module has long-lasting positive effects on the online learning experience.