Danielle Winingham joined Norton in 2017 and co-leads the Customer Success team, which is responsible for assisting instructors with integrating Norton’s learning tools and courseware in learning management systems and advising on course design practices.
It’s a month or so before classes start. You’ve selected a great textbook and are planning out your lectures. But now it’s time to get everything organized in your learning management system (LMS)—Canvas, Brightspace/D2L, Blackboard, etc. What do you do?
Enter a Norton Customer Success Manager (CSM).
All day, every day, Norton CSMs meet with instructors over Zoom or Teams to set up ebooks, learning tools, and courseware—such as online assignments, assessments, and videos—in LMS courses. We show you how to put the materials into your LMS and organize it in a way that not only works for your students but also matches your gradebook with what you’re planning in your syllabus. We also train you how to use the Norton learning tools and courseware you’ve selected. Sometimes that’s all you need, and we don’t hear from you again until it’s time to copy over your course materials to the next term.
Often, though, there’s more.
Maybe you’re scaling back on traditional exams and want to include more frequent, smaller assignments that make up a larger portion of the grade. Maybe you heard about a new grading method (contract grading, specifications grading, nongrading, etc.) and you’re curious about how others are using it and if or how it might work with your Norton learning tools. Maybe you’re offering more online or hybrid courses, but you don’t want to lose out on the active learning opportunities you had in person. Maybe you just really, really want students to come to class more prepared by having engaged with the reading and are trying to figure out a way to motivate them or hold them accountable for that piece.
What I think is special about a CSM is that we interact with instructors from all parts of North America using the same course materials that you may be using, so we hear about all these course goals or issues and we learn which ideas and solutions are working for other instructors. We’ll bounce around ideas with you and check in throughout the term to see how it’s going and what you might want to adjust for next term; we know that students’ needs change over time and courses may benefit by shifting in response.
We don’t disappear after the course is set up in the LMS either. While Norton has a dedicated service desk where students can go if they’re experiencing any issues (and we highly recommend they go there instead of flooding your inbox), your CSM is here to help you troubleshoot throughout the term as questions arise— when you’re building the midterm, when you’re trying to figure out how to give a student an extension on an assignment, when you decide you want to drop some of the lowest scores so students stop asking for extensions . . .
And perhaps it’s just nice to know that there’s a real person you can reach over email, phone, or Zoom/Teams who is familiar with your course and LMS and is there to help you from the initial brainstorming and setup through the term as you adapt to whatever the students throw your way.
Just like you’re always adapting to the changing needs of students, your CSM is always adapting, as well. In the middle of the term when course setup needs aren’t as high, we work on projects to ensure greater success in the future. Those projects might be developing new interactive guides for instructors or students, letting you know about upcoming changes to your textbook and resources, or working with administrators at your school to add new features to the LMS for even easier student access or instructor setup options. We also work with our colleagues in editorial and instructional technology at Norton to communicate what we’ve been hearing from instructors, such as if there’s a need for certain assignment types, new setup features and options, or trends and administrative pushes at the schools. Your CSM is there for you, from the initial course setup throughout the term and beyond.
As an example of how we can help, here are a few of my favorite LMS tips to pass along to my instructors:
Organize content in a clear, consistent way. The most common form of organization are weekly modules that contain everything the student needs to access and complete that week. For example, Norton’s “Resources for Your LMS” files are organized as modules for each chapter where the student has the ebook link, assignments, and resources relating to that chapter in the module. This chapter organization is easily edited to fit into a weekly module organization. Or, instead of grouping by week or chapter, some instructors structure content by units, topics, or activity types (i.e., all the readings in one module, all the homework in one module, all the exams in one module, etc.). Any of these methods can work as long as it’s consistent and clear to students; try to avoid an organization where a student would have to scroll or hunt through various modules to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing.
“It’s in the LMS” is basically an extension of “It’s in the syllabus.” Students often rely on LMS calendars, so it’s really helpful to them if all assignments and due dates are clear in the LMS (even if it’s in the syllabus already).
Make sure your LMS can grade in a way that matches what you’re putting in the syllabus. To save yourself time and keep students from being confused (and emailing you about it), try to make grading policies that match what your LMS offers as options. For example, many LMSs have easy ways to drop some of the lowest scores, which can possibly be reworked to allow students choices between different assignments. Having a policy where some of the lowest scores are automatically dropped saves you from having to respond to individual requests for extensions or can take the place of “tickets” students have to turn in to be late on or miss an assignment. Some LMSs may offer grading schemes, such as if a student reaches 80% on an assignment, they can get full 100% credit, but not all of them have that so it’s worth finding out before you create your grading structure.
Your CSM is happy to consult with you on the options you’re considering and how Norton learning tools might work within your LMS to accomplish your goals. We’re excited to work with you!
Have you adopted a Norton textbook and/or courseware and are looking to connect with your CSM? Contact your local sales rep to get started.
Danielle Winingham joined Norton in 2017 and co-leads the Customer Success team, which is responsible for assisting instructors with integrating Norton’s learning tools and courseware in learning management systems and advising on course design practices.