Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)

David Jerome Babb is Director of MTSU Online Learning at Middle Tennessee State University, where he partners with faculty to design engaging online learning experiences and improve student success through thoughtful instructional design and technology.

Years ago, when I was teaching studio art, students would inevitably ask me the same question: "What tool should I use?" At first, I thought they were asking about technique. Should they use charcoal or graphite? A flat brush or a round one? Eventually, I realized they weren't really asking about tools at all. They were asking something much bigger. "Am I doing this right?" "Do I belong here?" "Can I actually do this?" 

The tool was never the real question. It was confidence. 

More than twenty years later, college students are still asking the same question. They just use different words. "Where do I submit my assignment?" "What's a discussion board?" "Can I email my professor on a Sunday?" Those questions rarely have anything to do with the subject being taught. They're questions about learning how to be a college student.

I've spent more than twenty years sitting with faculty members, sketching course maps on sticky notes, arguing over navigation menus, and asking one simple question: "What will students experience when they click Next?" I've come to realize that the biggest barriers to student success are rarely inside the course itself. We've spent decades learning how to design outstanding courses. I'm not convinced we've spent as much time designing the experience of becoming a student.

Designing the Student Experience

As instructional designers, we work hard to reduce cognitive load. We organize content logically, simplify navigation, write clear instructions, and anticipate where students might struggle. We know that if students spend all their energy figuring out how a course works, they'll have less energy left for learning. So why do we expect them to solve the puzzle of college before learning can begin?

Higher education has become exceptionally good at building digital environments. We have learning management systems, analytics dashboards, AI tools, video platforms, and an ever-growing collection of student resources. Yet technology alone doesn't create student success. A beautifully designed LMS doesn't help a student who doesn't know where to begin. A tutoring platform is useless if students don't know it exists. Technology is only as effective as the experience we've designed around it.

Every fall we welcome students with orientation programs, campus tours, and an overwhelming amount of information delivered in just a few hours. Then we wish them luck and hope they remember enough to navigate their first semester. That's not onboarding. That's information overload. While developing STRIDE (Student Training, Resources, and Instruction in Digital Education) at Middle Tennessee State University, our goal wasn't to create another online course. It was to create a guided entry point into the online student experience, a place where students could learn not only what resources were available, but when, why, and how to use them.

Rethinking Student Onboarding

Orientation shouldn't be an event. It should be the beginning of a journey. Imagine students receiving one small challenge each week before classes begin: learning the LMS, finding tutoring services, introducing themselves to classmates, or meeting a librarian online. Nothing overwhelming. Just enough to replace uncertainty with confidence. Then imagine continuing that support after classes start through virtual student success clinics where students can ask questions without appointments or embarrassment. Faculty, advisors, librarians, instructional designers, financial aid staff, and technology specialists could rotate through informal sessions designed simply to help students find their footing.

I've spent much of my career helping faculty design better online courses. Along the way, I've realized something that fundamentally changed how I think about student success. 

We spend enormous amounts of time preparing courses for students. We spend remarkably little time preparing students for courses. As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into education, that distinction becomes even more important. We can provide students with more tools than ever before, but tools without guidance often create more confusion instead of less. The question isn't simply, "What technology can we give students?" The better question is, "How do we design an experience that helps students use technology successfully?" 

Building a Human-Centered Learning Ecosystem

Student success isn't simply the result of great teaching, innovative technology, or a well-designed course. It's the product of an intentionally designed ecosystem that begins before the first assignment and continues until students no longer need a guide. The most important technology infrastructure is often invisible. It's the communication plan, the accessibility review, the faculty development, the thoughtful course design, and the people who connect students with the support they need at exactly the right moment. When that invisible infrastructure works well, students hardly notice it. They simply know where to begin. They know where to go next. Most importantly, they begin to believe they belong.

That's the first lesson every college should teach. We don't need more technology. We need technology that feels human. When digital tools are paired with intentional, studentcentered design, they become more than systems. They become pathways to success.