As as educator of K-12 educators, I follow trends in the field via Twitter. It has been an invaluable addition to my life. In fact the US Department of Education sponsors a yearly (this is the second year) Connected Educators Month each year - see http://connectededucators.org/ . Teacher often work in silos of isolation (Sheryl Nussenbaum) and Twitter brings them out of the isolation to connect and share with; and learn from their peers. There are some principals on Twitter who state that they want their teachers to connect via Twitter and consider that factor as part of their hiring process. Here are some references that discuss the why and how of Twitter. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb10/vol67/num05/Why-Teachers-Should-Try-Twitter.aspx http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/twitter-for-educators-beginners-guide.html http://rossieronline.usc.edu/twitter-for-teachers/

I believe that rubrics can empower students by providing specific guidelines and expectations. When you have it all spelled out in front of you it helps to alleviate stress that often times is associated with posting to public forums and boards.

My classes are quite diverse when it comes to how students communicate with each other. I've been teaching online for just about a year now. Luckily, I have yet to run into any arguments or inappropriate student behavior. However I have noticed that some students are more, well, talkative than others. This was always the case in my F2F classes, but students could see who would converse and who wouldn't in those classes; it's significantly harder to do that online. I see some of the more gregarious students trying to engage the less talkative students and often the more gregarious students get left hanging, questions unanswered by their classmate. I try to step in and help but it's hard if there are specific questions being asked. Is there some way I can help this or is it just a casualty of online learning?

The courses I teach are 6 weeks long. Students get a lot of information during that time and I try to be as available as possible. We have online live chats twice a week but since they are not required, they don't have high attendance rates. I was thinking about creating an IM account and saying that I'll be signed on for questions at a certain time on certain days. Do you think this is a good idea? If so, which IM host is best? I use Facebook chat but that's about it. Do people still use Yahoo! or AOL chat?

Building community is a fast pace, accelerated program is very difficult. With limited time for study and participation, it seems that students would rather focus on content and not on getting to know each other better. Then comes a group project, and because they have minimal personal knowledge of each other, there is a lot of stress and tension among them. This is especially difficult when the group project is the last assignment in the course. One alternative is to create the groups at the beginning of the session so students can start relating and building community. In many of my classes, although the group project is the last assignment, I’ll create groups in the small group area just for socializing and call it the “Study Room”. The in the chat and announcements I’ll let them know the purpose of the Study Room, which is not the project (assignment) but a way to get to know each other so the small group resources don’t go to waste until we start the project the last week of class. In this Study room I encourage students to meet, greet, share, and study together using the small group resources (DB, chat, emails). Not all students participate actively in the Study Room, but I’ve found this helps both communications practices and establish personal connections that reduce the stresses and strains of the last week of class, especially in those students that want to socialize with others and use these connections to enhance their learning. What I’m trying to argue is that it’s easier to manage community building and collaboration when there is a smaller group. Even when using MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), creating small groups can help preserve communication practices and community building. Does anyone have other ideas on collaboration and building communities in MOOCs?

Course that have group projects represent a great opportunity to see the communications dynamics between generations. It’s very easy to see, for example, those that want to work offline using teleconferencing and face to face meeting (Baby Boomers) and those that prefer the online (live) chat to complete the project. Or those that have great technical abilities (Millennials) and those students that hate group projects and would rather work alone (Gen X). So as much as students tend to resist group projects within the online environment, the dynamics among them can clearly serve as a generational marker for the facilitator. The risk of student labeling non withstanding, reactions and preferences observed during small group activities can serve as a source for identifying generational differences in a smaller setting than the main classroom. Being able to reliably identify communications preferences by generation also leads to better selection of resources for building the learning community in the broader sense. Observing group dynamics works for me when the group projects are within the session, but when they are the last deliverable in the course, the point is mute. Is anyone else using small group dynamics to assess generational communications preferences to align proper resources?

As new students come into the online environment, especially at graduate level, they have already acquired expectations and habits that may enhance or disrupt the communications process. I suspect most already have a sense of using proper protocols, and guidelines, but may need some prompting and encouraging on creating new communications habits and breaking older ones. To me, there is a certain “maturation process” that goes along with communications, meaning that improving communications effectiveness is an ongoing process. Yet in students that take a few classes with me, I get the impression they just want to adapt to the course expectations and content as best they can rather than take the opportunity to improve. Granted there are students that focus energies on communicating effectively and abide by the communications code, but there are others that just want to concentrate on the content and have less of a regard for process or even feedback. Of course class announcements and the communications rubrics will help manage these situations, but I’m wondering if it’s also practical (and perhaps effective) to include communications assessments in the overall program effectiveness assessments. Many universities have assessments of student progress throughout the program, but should there also be an assessment of “communications maturity” especially at graduate level? I’d be interested in reading some opinions regarding the implementation, monitoring and assessing of communications maturity through the different graduate programs.

Most of my students are capable to adapting and coaching me as an instructor into the communications tool they feel most comfortable using, sometimes even despite my promptings. But the students I'm worried about he most are those for which English is a second language. When I detect grammar or flow problems with emails or IMs, I’ll attempt a phone call or use a VoIP tool. Interestingly enough, I find that students with difficulties in English as a Second Language tend to also have problems with many communications technologies. I don’t want to over simplify, but telephone contact with students for which English is a second language seems to work best for me. I’m wondering if anyone else has a similar or different experience.

I think it is finding the proper amount of time to study. Students need to ensure they are reading the materials in the class, watching the videos and lectures, reading the book, etc. in order to ensure they are properly engaged in the classroom.

I use both methods. The issues I see many students encounter I will cover in a live lecture or live tutoring session. I also save this for those who want to view later on at their leisure to help them complete the task and understand the material.

I set the tone by leading by example. It is okay to agree to disagree. You can also set the rules up front as to what type of conduct is permitted in the online classroom so there is no question as to what needs to be done.

It is important for a student to learn and know their strengths and weaknesses. It is also important for the instructor to know this as this will help ensure we can get the student pass the hurdles.

How often should you update your rubrics for your assignments?

How would you encourage your students to communicate more with their fellow students on the topics for the week. For example, many times I get responses from other students to each other "good job" and that's it. Any ideas on how to get the students to communicate more in a discussion board forum instead of just a few words?

I have found that with my classes only being 5 weeks its very hard if I don't get them communicating in the first 2 weeks I lose them. I really try to use our DB area to pull them out during week 1 and 2 to get them communicating. I also have found that in our live chat sessions it is very hard to get them to communicate and participate. I have added polls, put questions during the live chat and they still don't really participate. Any suggestions on how to get them to communicate more during the live chat?

In reading the posts on this forum, it brought a question to my mind: If no two people "were more than 5 intermediaries apart" in the past (when concept was formulated; with the explosive growth of social networks, individuals belonging to multiple networks, and new technology / technological applications, has this number changed? Have any experts in social media ever tried to use the vast computer resources available in order to, at least, develop a "hypothetical" number based on probablility, mathematics and most likely even artifical intelligence? In my mind, it would seem that if we had two people, each at a computer; then the "social networks" of one should be "reaching into" the "social networks" of the second. So if the networks are each "reaching" into the other's "network territory", it would seem that there might just be a new "number" of degrees /or perhaps "mouse-clicks" of separation. Has anyone ever come across any "research, computed/mathematical algorithms, etc. as to what the number theoretically is? Just curious. Not that I am going to lose any sleep over it, if it's never be done!

Measuring good communication is important to do in the online environment to ensure the instructor is reaching the students and engaging them effectively. The instructor may try several different ways to communicate and evaluate which ones work best in the classroom. Stating clear objectives the first day of class helps the students understand the expectations of the courses and how to communicate.

To assist my student with online communication I make sure to have office hours clearly posted so they know when they are able to reach me. Also, I hold a weekly group session via webex, which the students can log into if they have questions or concerns about the weekly material. Also, the webex is a great way for the instructor to assist the student with additional material to help them succeed, such as power point presentations.

In the courses I have taught the students are given policies and procedures the first day of the course, so they have a clear understanding of the expectations. The students are also given a rubric for their discussions and assignments so they know exactly what they will be graded on. I think it is important for the students to have a very clear understanding of the course expectations in order to do their best.

In today's technological world there are so many different ways to communicate. Effective communication should be carefully considered. Think about the type of students you have in your course. Learn how they best take in and retain information and then analyze the most effective way to reach and retain students in the course. Some students might respond best by phone, some by email or text. I have found when I find the best way to communicate with a student I can keep them engaged in the course.