The Flying Squad are PhD students who work with the full time professional members of the unit to provide help and support to students and staff in their use of the university’s online learning systems.
CUOnline is the brand name that covers all of the university’s online learning systems. These include Moodle, Mahara, Turnitin, Echo360, Helix Media Library and the Curve digital repository.
Where are they?
The Flying Squad are located in the Library on the ground floor next to the IT Services helpdesk. They are ‘on duty’ between 9.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday throughout the year.
How do I contact them?
In person. Students can visit the e-Learning Unit’s Flying Squad in the Library without an appointment and speak to them in person. At busy periods there are three members of the Flying Squad available so usually students do not have to wait long to be attended to.
By telephone. Their number is 024 7688 7673. There are three lines so you normally get answered quickly. There is also an answer phone for out of hours calls or if all lines are engaged.
By email. Their email address is flying.squad@coventry.ac.uk emails are answered in rotation but normally within the hour during the working day.
What can they do for me?
As well as helping you with the use of all the CUOnline systems, they can also advise you on what to do if the modules listed in Moodle are not the same as those you thought you should be studying. They can determine whether the problem is a technical one, which they can fix, or an administrative one that requires changes to be made by your faculty and then direct you to the appropriate office. They can’t add you to modules, that is done by a download from the student record system, Universe, that is administered by the faculties.
They have a website http://cuonlinemoodlehelp.wordpress.com/ that contains essential information for new students and much useful information about what to do if you have password problems or missing modules from you Moodle list.
Why are they called the Flying Squad?
The name goes back to 2006 when a group of eight post-graduate students were employed during the summer vacation to work with staff on setting up their online learning material. The ‘flying’ bit refers to the fact that staff could phone for help and someone would ‘fly’ to their office and work side by side with them. That still happens, but over the years the role has expanded to include student support and to operate throughout the year.
