What Will I learn? | How Much Time Should I Spend? | How Is the Site Organized? | Can I Print These Materials? | Where Can I Go for Help? | Can I Access these Materials After the Event?

For many of you, participating in an online event is a new experience. This section is designed to answer some basic questions about online learning -- including where to go to learn more!

What Will I Learn from This Event?

Identifying Priorities and Strategies for Your Prevention Initiative is a five-part workshop designed to be completed over the course of five days. It is divided into these sections:

Day 1: Developing a Comprehensive Prevention Plan
MSCs will be introduced to prevention planning, with an emphasis on the importance of collaborating with school and community partners to establish prevention priorities and identify appropriate research-based strategies.

Day 2: Establishing Priorities and Anticipating Outcomes
MSCs will review a framework for examining needs assessment information and begin the process of establishing prevention priorities and developing long-term outcome statements.

Day 3: Examining School-Linked Prevention Strategies
MSCs will learn how research-based approaches to substance use and violence prevention can be incorporated into the school setting.

Day 4: Putting It All Together
MSCs will explore factors to consider when developing a mission statement that accurately reflects community priorities, anticipated outcomes, and selected strategies for achieving those outcomes.

Day 5: Event Summary and Wrap-up
MSCs will receive a synthesis of the week's discussion, reflect on the event, and complete an online assessment questionnaire.

How Much Time Should I Spend on This Event?

Participants should log in at least once a day, although it may be helpful to log in more often. Some find that they can better monitor and contribute to the online discussion if they log in toward to beginning and end of each day. Please make sure that you allow enough time each day to read through the daily materials, complete associated activities, and visit the discussion area. However, more time is required if you want to take full advantage of the many tools, resources, and links that are provided to enhance this event. On average, past participants have spent approximately one hour per day reviewing materials, completing activities, and contributing to the discussion.

How Is the Site Organized?

Each online event website includes eight sections:

Event Schedule
This section describes what participants will be doing each day of the event.

Materials
This is where participants can acquire a basic understanding of the event topic. Materials will appear in a variety of formats and can be printed for future reference.

Activities
This section contains one or two structured tasks that participants will be asked to complete during the course of the event. The activities are designed to help participants apply the knowledge they acquired through the event materials and discussion.

Discussion
Each day, participants are asked to visit the discussion area to share their comments and questions about event materials and activities. Though facilitated by Training Center staff, the event discussion is primarily intended to be a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among MSCs.

Event Staff
This section displays brief biographies of the event facilitators, content developers, and technical support staff.

Resources & Links
The information contained in this section is designed to complement the event materials, facilitate ease of participation in the event, and enhance overall learning.

Event Support
Participants with technical questions can go to this section and submit an online request for assistance.

Glossary
This section provides definitions of many terms related to online learning.

Take some time to tour the site and familiarize yourself with its layout and content.

Can I Print these Materials?

All of the materials and tools on this site can be printed out for future reference. However, before printing, we strongly suggest that you review the materials online so that you can see how the different sections fit together.

To print out a specific page, simply go to the page of interest, place your cursor on File (at the top of the page), go to Print, then press OK. This will print everything on the screen in front of you.

To print most of the training information, select Printable View (at the bottom of the page), then select print. Unfortunately, there are some items that will not appear in the Printable View, and you will have to print them separately (MS Word documents and other attachments).

Where Can I Go for Help?

Participants with technical questions or problems can submit a request for assistance to Event Support. Your inquiries will be responded to immediately. You may also find answers to your questions in Tips for Navigating this Site, Tips for Participating in Online Events, and Tips for Using the Discussion Area. Also, the Glossary may help clarify the meaning of various terms used throughout the event.

Can I Access these Materials After the Event?

You will be able to visit this website at this address for one week after the event ends, though the discussion area will be closed during this time. At the end of the second week, the entire site will be archived on this website, where you can visit it at any time.