FAQs
CONTENTS
Q. Why an online course for learning about grief?
Q. What are the instructors qualifications?
Q. Are scholarships available?
Q. What is special about this online course?
Q. Who is eligible to take the online course, “Navigating Children's Grief”?
Q. Why are teachers and coaches encouraged to take the course?
Q. Is this a counseling course?
Q. How much time does it take to complete the course?
Q. Do I have to write a paper for this course?
Q. How do I obtain my certificate of completion?
Q. How do I receive college credit?
Q. Do I need to be a computer expert to take the course online?
Q. Can I take the course using dial up internet access?
Q. What are the minimum computer requirements?
Q. Why an online course for learning about grief?
A. Demanding schedules and some locations make it difficult to attend an all-day or two-day workshop. The online format brings the information to you, at your convenience. You can enjoy the lessons in the privacy of your home or office on your own schedule. It is easy to pause or stop the lessons for interruptions. Each lesson requires 15-30 minutes to complete.
Q. What are the instructors qualifications?
A. Mary Lyles, MSW, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with intensive training in grief support for children and adults. She has worked with over 1,000 grieving children and their families, met with school teachers and administrators, trained numerous master's and doctoral interns in the mental health field, and trained several hundred adults to support grieving children. The course was developed because of increasing demand for this training.
Mary developed a community or school-based curriculum for grief support groups that has proven itself to be effective in assisting grieving children. She is active in research regarding the emotional responses and needs of grieving children. Ms. Lyles is completing her dissertation regarding multimedia learning in the social sciences for her PhD in Educational Psychology.
Q. Are scholarships available?
A. There is a waiting list for a small number of scholarships. To apply, please email a brief essay describing your need for a scholarship and how you will use the course to benefit grieving children. Those serving veterans and their families have additional opportunities for scholarships through Operation Carry the Flame.
Q. What is special about this online course?
A. Many online courses are text-based with limited interaction with the material or the instructor. This course provides a professionally narrated, multimedia format (movies, pictures and some text), with opportunities to engage in instructor-moderated discussion boards with people like yourself who are taking the class. Most lessons have short, non-graded multiple choice questions that provide feedback to let you know if you answered correctly.
CGEA, a non-profit organization, is fortunate to have Jim Pollock, CEO of Highest Mountain, Inc., a multimedia design company that provides multimedia training programs for international corporations. Jim donated his time to create the beautiful artwork and multimedia format for this course.
Q. Who is eligible to take the online course, “Navigating Children's Grief”?
A. Anyone who has a heart for children and is interested in knowing more childhood loss is eligible to take the course. Teachers, scout leaders, youth leaders, clergy, concerned adults, social workers and counselors can all be a positive influence for grieving children and will benefit from this course. Adults who experienced significant death losses as a child may also find the information healing for themselves. If you have experienced a recent loss, this may not be the best time to take the course.
Q. Why are teachers and coaches encouraged to take the course?
A. Teachers have a significant influence in children and teenager's lives through regular contact in the classroom. Grades are often affected when a child loses a loved one. Teachers can create an emotionally safe classroom environment for a grieving student through utilizing effective communication tools taught in the Navigating Children's Grief online course. This provides a learning environment that supports and encourages a grieving student.
Q. Is this a counseling course?
A. No, it is not designed to teach counseling skills. Completion of the course does not make one a professional grief counselor. Counselors, however, will benefit from information about children's grief that can be utilized in counseling sessions. Lessons include learning how to listen to and communicate with a grieving child, which can be used by a friend, parent, teacher, principal, nurse, group leader or pastor.
Q. How much time does it take to complete the course?
A. Time varies with each individual. Ten total contact hours are allowed for the course. You do not need to set aside ten hours at once for the course. It is designed to be completed in 15-30 minute segments. There are 14 lessons, including the final summary lesson.
Q. Do I have to write a paper for this course?
A. No. The course is only 1/2 a college graduate credit. There is NO GRADED homework. There are some outside assignments (select the syllabus link at the top of the page for more information) that will help you develop self-understanding and communication skills. Again, they are not a part of your grade.
A. The grade is Pass/Fail based on the final exam, which must be passed with a minimum score of 70%. The final exam can be taken more than once.
Q. How do I obtain my certificate of completion?
A. Your certificate of completion will be available online as soon as you pass the final exam. It will be dated the day you passed the final exam. Instructions for downloading the certificate are in the Course Conclusion. The certificate can be found under Main Menu/My Accounts.
Q. How do I receive college credit?
A. Adams State College Extended Studies Program will give graduate credit to individuals with a bachelor's degree after completion of the course. Download the form in the References section of your online course, complete and send it in to Adams State College. Grades (pass/fail) are reported at the end of each semester.
Q. Do I need to be a computer expert to take the course online?
A. Call or email us if you need help getting started: (303) 246-3826. Step by step instructions are on this website. To view this course, you must have a multimedia-ready PC with a connection to the Internet.
Q. Can I take the course using dial up internet access?
A. Yes. As with all other applications, the process will be slower. You may want to plan to initialize each movie presentation about 20-30 minutes before you are ready to view the lesson. This gives the movie time to load so that you don't have downtime while taking each lesson.
Q. What are the minimum computer requirements?
Recommended Minimum Configuration:
· >350 MHz Pentium III PC with Windows 98/2000/ME/XP ( If you have Windows Millineum as your operating system, contact us for assistance.)
· 128 MBytes of RAM
· 50 MBytes of temporarily available disk space
· Color monitor with >800x600 and millions of colors
· Speakers or headphones
· Windows compatible mouse
· Internet Explorer or Netscape 6.x or higher
· QuickTime 5.x or higher (QuickTime 6.4 recommended)
Get the latest version of QuickTime from:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download