The Challenge
When McDaniel came to Winthrop University, students would physically drop off timesheets or fax the office and she had to manually log each of their hours. With nearly 400 students, this ate up too much time and was frankly, too much work for her to take on alone. Not only that, but running reports was a headache-inducing nightmare because of how many systems the school used and ended up being more expensive than the program could afford.
Winthrop’s MSW program needed a one-stop-shop for tracking student hours, building reports, and field management.
The Solution
Their search for a better system started back in 2014 when McDaniel decided enough was enough. There had to be a better way.
McDaniel analyzed all the available software databases and compared the costs, pros, cons, and reviews at the time. Due to the school’s tight budget, they ended up using a hodgepodge of systems rigged together.
But McDaniel wanted a system that could do the front-end work of the placements and the backend work of the courses, evaluations, and assessments. She also wanted a user-friendly database for the students and faculty users so they could search and have records in an accessible location rather than using a long word document or spreadsheets to keep track.
When they discovered Experiential Learning Cloud (Formerly Tevera), the choice was clear. They could finally bid “adieu” to their patchwork solutions with Lumivero's front-end and back-end solutions. It felt like a breath of fresh air.
So, in January 2021, McDaniel and Blanding implemented Experiential Learning Cloud.
“Students and field instructors often say: ‘This is awesome. Thank you for having things in one place.’ We had to have a system that could do the front end of the placements and the backend of the courses and the evaluation and the assessment. Experiential Learning Cloud is geared towards making it quick and easy to use and helps us to best use our limited amount of time to do this time-consuming work.”
– Jennifer McDaniel, Field Director, Winthrop University MSW
The Impact
When Blanding and McDaniel implemented Experiential Learning Cloud, they immediately found the process of data entry and tracking more efficient than their former patchwork strategy. Not only that, but students and field directors were impressed with it as well, which is always a key consideration.
What the team likes most:
- Product Layout:
“Experiential Learning Cloud uses color-coding to distinguish elements and visuals making the processes faster and efficient with one quick glance.” – McDaniel - Easy Tracking:
“The site placement design makes it easier to figure out which students have done what they’re supposed to. This saves time and resources on our end.” – McDaniel - Customer Support:
“We’ve already seen that the company’s invested in continually making Experiential Learning Cloud better within the first four months of using it.” – McDaniel - Student Feedback:
“Students and field instructors often say, “this is awesome. Thank you for having things in one place” and the students enjoy the program once they get through the learning curve.”
“Experiential Learning Cloud is very user-focused and intuitive. It has made a great impact on students and our work.” – Blanding - Time-saving:
“Our placement time is cut down by about half. The setup of courses with students when they’re going into the courses is minimal, maybe a third of the setup time (compared to before).” -McDaniel