Emailing
I feel emailing is the best way for me to communicate with my students. Not only am I certain the message was sent, it is also documented. I find with phone calls to students often times I just end up leaving a voice mail and the students rarely get back to me.
Janis,
I understand how you feel. Have you used Remind 101? It's an application in which students sign up for and enter their cell number. Then you send one message and it goes to all students who signed up. That way you don't have to send the same message several times.
I have to agree with emailing. However texting has got to be so popular I feel it may be taking over from emailing.
James,
I have even put emails out stating, "For two extra credit points, ask a question (based on course content) on the Frequently Asked Questions discussion board or completely/correctly answer a peer's question. Do this within the next 24 hours."
The word gets out that they can earn extra credit (and it's MINIMAL!) they will start checking email. If you can't do extra credit, you may consider making dropping the lowest quiz grade or something else. Hope this is helpful.
I find it is a useful tool only if they bother to go in and read their emails. I can post materials in the announcements and emails, talk about them in chats, but they still seem to want to fly by the seat of their pants. If you catch a tinge of frustration that is because it is, how do students expect to pass when they cannot follow simple instructions to read the email and announcements every time they come into the classroom?.
Kristen,
You are right. That individualized communication can be very beneficial. We just have to make sure we don't get overwhelmed with the email overload. Thanks for your input.
I find email very useful as well. Group or individually. Having the opportunity to contact the instructor privately for any student that needs to reach out is a nice way to provide more help.
Letitia,
Yes, it's good to make sure you can document what you send and when you send it. That's a good point. Thanks!
I always use the e-mail tool. With this tool, I can be certain that the message was sent. Sometimes, students may say they didn't receive my e-mail, but the good part is that I can hit the forward button so that when the students receive the e-mail the 2nd time, they can see that there was a response timely.
Scott and Richard,
Thanks for your continued conversation. The tone of your emails is especially important. I know you will keep that in mind. Thanks again.
Richard,
I think this is a great point. In the online world, email seems to be a really solid way of communicating. One challenge that I have with email is the fact that it is hard to capture the right words at times, especially when trying to engage in a dialogue. In email, it is easy to come across to aggressive or to put off students. In the same way, students need to learn the proper way to address each other and professors. I think that as email has become more and more accessible, this becomes more and more of an issue.
A nice post with some solid points.
Scott
David and Marie,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. I agree that a "paper trail" may be helpful, but I find the Frequently Asked Questions discussion board help reduce emails and help all students who have questions about assignments. Thanks!
Marie,
Great points. Have you found a good way to help faciliate assisting students with assignments via email? There are some things that I can't work through with a student over email...although I agree with the communication method because it does keep a great paper trail.
David Pittman
Richard,
Right on. The emails do serve as written documentation and can be used later to help others who have the same question or issue. To reduce email, you may want to do this through a frequently asked questions discussion board. Thanks!
In the online environment the e-mail system is an incredible tool. I have come to realize that this method of communication plays a dual role. Not only is it a great median to relay well thought out responses, but it also sereves as written documentation. This written documentation can in the future be shared with the student when encountering a similar issue if not the same exact issue.
Trude,
It's helpful to have someone (you or an assigned students) summarize the discussion board discussion and then comment on the overall discussion. You can also create group discussions where 3-5 students discuss a topic and then you can bring the group discussions back to the whole. Just some thoughts. Thanks for your input.
The discussion board in my class is public. Therefore, I can only make general comments addressed to the entire group on the DB. It gets tricky when I try to provide rein in a student who has gone off on an inappropriate or incorrect tangent. I can provide more personalized feedback once the DB is complete and I am providing feedback to go with the DB grade. However, at that point, there is no opportunity left to continue the dialogue on that topic.
Marie,
We all have different experiences. I use the discussion board - especially the FAQ discussion board - more than anything. It helps me alleviate the email overload. Thanks for your input.
