I have found that the discussion rubrics in the canned portion of our course can be a bit too vague for fine grading. I have added some rules of my own to the syllabus...for example...one rubric we use states, "original post that answers the question and submitted by Wednesday" 20 points. "two original posts in response to your fellow students that are more in content than 'I agree', 'You are right', etc." 2.5 points a piece. Not quite a clear and concise explanation. SO I add in the syllabus that proper grammar is required. Also, if it is a science related discussion, they must have the proper citations. The instructor has final say in how all of theses tools are used and I try to take that responsibility seriously.

I give the good and bad...I have found sometimes that the bad gets them talking...whether it is showing them that they don't have to be perfect or what, I know it works. I will give them what happened, how I handled it and ask them how they would have handled it. This really gets them involved, and honestly, they are thinking through the answers, because if they post before they have thought them through, the other students point out the loopholes... I think these are sometimes the liveliest and sometimes the funniest discussions!

I believe civility is important. When you have laid it out in your syllabus, sent out an email with Course Policies and Procedures, reminded them in their Tips for Success each week, what else can you do? You can set an example, even for the angriest student, by keeping your cool and replying in a slow and steady voice...you are setting an example for the netiquette and civility you expect. I believe that the instructor often sets the tone for the class. What kind of tone are you setting for yours?

I have used SKYPE in my on ground classes to talk to friends I have in Australia and the United Kingdom. They had discussions with my students about the socialized medicine challenges and what they thought American medicine was like. I found this to be a terrific tool for further discussion. I realize that for Skype conferencing money is needed. But for individual tutoring and problem solving I love it!! Has anyone else used it with success stories?

Rubrics or an assessment tool is designed to evaluate student participation in an on-line environment. As we all know, rubrics pros, what are the cons when using rubrics? How can these rubrics be more student friendly?

Students come from different backgrounds and specific needs are on a case-per-case basis. Investigating what works with each student will encourage effective communication needs are being met. What is another way to encourage effective communication?

Everyone wants to be heard. Providing feedback on posts encourages participation in discussion forums and lets the students know their instructor cares about what they post. What are other ways to encourage participation in discussion forums?

Facebook is a great social media tool that can be used to communicate with fellow students regarding questions or networking purposes. It is believed there are more pros than cons. What are the pros and cons?

Rubrics are performance-based authentic assessments that evaluate student performance on any given task or set of tasks that ultimately leads to a learning outcome. Rubrics use specific criteria as a basis for evaluating or assessing student performances as indicated in narrative descriptions that are separated into levels of possible performance related to a given task. A rubric is a working guide for students and teacher, normally handed out before the assignment begins. A rubric enhances the quality of direct instruction. Dr. Marcia L. Brown, PMP

A key to good communication is effectively asking questions. The two types of questions are open-ended and closed-ended. It is preferred to ask open-ended questions because they stimulate discussion and thinking. It is important to use clear, concise questions and wait before answering your own question, to give the students a chance to come up with the answer themselves. When responding to answers, provide acknowledgement, paraphrase the response, and capture the essence of the answer. These simple rules will help immensely. Dr. Marcia L. Brown, PMP

Rubrics can be a bit cumbersome for a student to read. For an academic we are used to these sort of documents. I see students eyes glaze over in a face to face when I discuss the rubric. I think the language needs to be simple enough and succinct enough for everyone to understand. Any suggestions on modifying an original University Rubric while staying within the curriculum guidelines?

An instructor needs to communicate with students frequently, provide substantive feedback, and communicate well with technology. The instructor should be an active participant, bring their own experiences to the discussion, do not dominate a discussion, or let a few students dominate it, challenge students without silencing them, and paraphrase a message if it is not clear. At a minimum, the teacher should include instruction on netiquette. Netiquette, which is short for Internet etiquette, is most important. It involves civility or politeness, professionalism, courtesy, respect, consideration, and good manners. Netiquette includes rules for all aspects of the Internet, including the World Wide Web, e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, newsgroups, and message boards. Dr. Marcia L. Brown, PMP

At times it is difficult to get student to follow the rubric. They often times debate the scores that were given and it can be challenging to explain to them why they received a certain score, since discussions are subjective, in most cases. How do you go about explaining to students why they received a low score, when posts are sometimes subjective? Mrs. Mitchell

Having the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials in one class can be a challenge. I have found that having each student to do introductions including what they think will be the most challenging for them in an online course. This initiates student's willingness to assist one another and it has worked quite well. What are other suggestions that may be able to help me? Thank you Letrice Mitchell

I often times have those student who are quite demanding on day 1. It can be difficult to get them to conform to proper communication but after weeks of speaking with them, it may be a personal issue going on. But, there habits have ruffled the feathers of other students. How do anyone else, handle students when they begin a course with negative behavior? Letrice Mitchell

Successful e-mails begin with TO, FROM, SUBJECT, and DATE and they usually only cover one topic. They are written conversationally and concisely. Prior to sending the message, collect information, prepare an outline, and compose the first draft in a Word document. The subject line summarizes the central idea, the body explains and provides more information, and the closing includes action information with dates or deadlines, and a summary of the e-mail. If the e-mail is constructed correctly, then is will be a technology tool for effective communication. Dr. Marcia L. Brown, PMP

One thing I find very powerful is to send outreach notes each week after I do grades. While it takes a little longer ( but only 5-10 minutes per class) I sent out individual ones that address them by their first name Such as Dear Joe, ..... They seem to respond really well to this, if you take the time to respond to them by name they realize this is not just a form email (even if the body is) and you really do care. Many students respond positively to this small factor.

Several online colleges are introducing new apps for their school. These can be neat in that you can check in on the go from a tablet or smart board. However I find when students use these apps their quality of discussion posts goes WAY down. All of a sudden you see grammar and spelling errors and text speak start to slip in. I try to make it clear that expectations are the same for writing level for apps or posts made from web browsers but they jump into this more informal frame of mind. Does anyone else see this happening?

One of the hardest things I think to manage online is group projects. This is where students tend to get snarky or have an attitude if they feel they are doing more or people are not pulling their own weight. I usually have very few problems elsewhere on the discussions or within the class. Does anyone else find this to be the case?

I teach math classes that involve many tutorial math videos. From showing how to solve equations to using excel the videos are a powerful way to reach students when you cannot be there yourself. However I find just hosting these on youtube means the students don't use them, they don't want to sort through dozens of videos. Instead I have been sorting them all using a live binder, this free Web site allows you to sort things into categories (for shorter classes I tend to do each week) and place just the videos there for that week, then they can easily access them. This gives me a great way to communicate all of these external resources to my students.