Doug Blymier

This goes back to everything else, getting your students involved.  Making sure they are with you and understand the material is important.  You are only as good as your students.

Dealing with challenging students is hard.  Some require extra attention, while others want more hands off.  I have one student who has to come in and tell me everything that happened since we last had class.  If I try to cut the story short I see a complete shut down.  Others require complements and notoriety.  Each student is different.

Getting students involved, helping them to work through an ideal or solution.  Guiding is important.

Giving labs that are geared around the students ability, helps challenge them to move forward.

there are multiple ways to learn.  Figuring out what language, ideals, or phrases the students respond to and understand are important.

Asking questions is a way to draw out understanding.

On my first day of class I alway tell my students, "the dumbest question you can ask, is the one you didn't ask."  I press upon them that if a question has surfaced in there mind, chances are it is needed answering for other classmates.  

I personally don't feel students have a problem communicating online, text, email, etc.  It is the face to face communication that is lacking.  Ask someone how they are doing and they will almost always say, "Fine."  If they are polite they will add a "Thank you for asking and you?"  I have seen this time and time again.  I always incourrage my students to tell me exactly how they feel.  As far as online communication it is simple, write as if you are the one receiving the message.

I like the part of asking the student which is the best way to communicate with them.  I like using announcements in Canvas but notice that sometimes students tell me they didn't see it.  Using school emails works sometime but again students have told me they don't check them until they get to school.  So learning which way is best is always a good note to self.

Effective communication can be done using multiple means.  It depends souly upon ones own ability to understand what is available, but most importantly how to use it.