This Virtual Student Learning Support Platform provides a collection of information and materials related to student learning skills. The contributors include staff of this College, experts from different areas writing in websites of educational institutes worldwide and, in particular, from those from the University of Wollongong. Another kind of useful information covered by this centralized depository is the learning support activities organised by the College, different academic units as well as non-College parties.
Students’ power is huge and infinite; hence we would like to utilize this power and turn it into tools that can benefit more students. PALS had illustrated how students can help others in a very small scale, and the purpose of developing ORCAS is to expand the reach of each portion of power that a student contributes.
ORCAS is not just a place where students can find resources, it is a place where students can earn rewards through contribution. Students are encouraged to contribute to the resource banks and forums, and we wish that everyone can be benefitted by ORCAS.
The system is named after orcas, or killer whales in a more general sense. Orcas are highly intelligent and social animals; these animals are keen on hunting as a team and they are located at the top of the marine food chain. If orcas are human, they are the ideal type of students that we all wish to have, the name of the system is reflecting our expectation of our students. Orcas are collaborative hunters, and ORCAS is a collaborative system; orcas benefit the herd by strategically group hunts, students collaborate via ORCAS to be benefitted together.
