Establishing relationships and Identifying students at risk
I begin my course with my bio, an open forum called Community where students introduced themselves to one another, and an email called First Contact. I request that students (within their level of comfort) provide information on themselves and on their expectations about the course.
Basic information on their family life, work schedules, and their level of shyness is one source of identifying areas that could become a future concern.
Since I am an adjunct with only a cell phone, when I call a student, they learn my home phone.
Of the sixty calls that I have made to students, I have never encountered a problem with a student who knows my home phone number.
I do resolve most issues by email.
We have live chats available in our LMS but we do not have efficient two way audio. I use the live chat to show a visual and talk concurrently by phone.
Albert,
I agree with seperating work and personal contact information. If you didn't want to give out you home number you could always use a Skype number or set up a free Google Voice number that will ring the phone of your choice. Usually I find that I can resolve issues via e-mail, it is a rare case when I have to use my personal phone to work with a student.
Herbert Brown III
I have two types of emails and social networks; personal and business. I provide students with my business emails but students are allowed to contact me by phone.
Since I cannot record phone messages, verification of the contenti not adequate. My institution does not encourage private phone conversations with student; yet, my institution does not prohibit personal phone conversations.
Frances,
I do a fair amount of group work with students and I leave this up to the students in the group. If they want to use personal e-mail that is up to their group. If they want to use non-university tools to communicate that is fine as well. If they asked the entire class for their personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers, I would let the student know that in our classes we use the university communication tools for our main communication. Any other communication is specific groups will be up to the group. I would probably also communicate one-on-one with the student to find out why they want to know this.
Herbert Brown III
Frances,
I do a fair amount of group work with students and I leave this up to the students in the group. If they want to use personal e-mail that is up to their group. If they want to use non-university tools to communicate that is fine as well. If they asked the entire class for their personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers, I would let the student know that in our classes we use the university communication tools for our main communication. Any other communication is specific groups will be up to the group. I would probably also communicate one-on-one with the student to find out why they want to know this.
Herbert Brown III
Frances,
I do a fair amount of group work with students and I leave this up to the students in the group. If they want to use personal e-mail that is up to their group. If they want to use non-university tools to communicate that is fine as well. If they asked the entire class for their personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers, I would let the student know that in our classes we use the university communication tools for our main communication. Any other communication is specific groups will be up to the group. I would probably also communicate one-on-one with the student to find out why they want to know this.
Herbert Brown III
Albert, I agree that encouraging students to work with each other to enhance the online learning environment and experience, what is your response to a student who asks the class for personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers?
Ryan,
Do you give students any boundaries on the "personal topics"? Have you ever had students offer a little too personal information online - how did you deal with it?
Herbert Brown III
Eleanor,
It is very important to clearly articulate when you are and are not available. If you say you are available 24/7 and students try to contact you are 3am and you don't respond in a short period of time, then students believe you are "unavailable" I have had students send me three e-mails between 1am and 4am asking why I did not respond to their emails. If you work with a national or international population of students then time zones also come in to the equation.
Herbert Brown III
Eleanor,
Another purpose might be to group students based on similar background and interests for group projects. Group projects that are fairly "open-ended" will work better when the students have some similar interests.
Herbert Brown III
I do something similar. My bio is part of my welcome announcement and then also I have a thread on the discussion board where the students can post post about themselves and discuss any personal topics they wish to address. I post the first thread with a more detailed, personal bio about myself. Most students participate, but this is not a mandatory activity.
I, too, establish an introductory chat for everyone to use. Not every student participates. I will send individual emails to those who are not participating. For the at-risk students, I make sure that they know I am available 24/7 but, also, establish some boundaries, e.g., you can contact me at any time, however I may not immediately respond during certain times.
I think the way the groups are chosen is based upon the intent of the groups. If its primary purpose is to have strangers get to know each other, and thyus, feel more comfortable in the class, its better for the professor to choose the group members. If the intent is just to get students talking then the self-selection is just as good as the professor-constructed groups.
Its not always necessary to get specifics about a student when one is trying make students feel comfortable. The professor can start with general non-threatening questions for discussion. Once the students begin interacting, they often wind up sharing more information than expected. For the truly shy or evasive student some encouraging questions can be asked. Sometimes that works. The reality is, however, individuals have different comfort levels and different personal limits to the amount of information shared. Not everyone will share.
When I set up groups, I sort students by their responses to my introduction forum, by time zone and by academic program (if that information is available.)
I select groups for diversity, commitment and personal issues. I am sensitive to family issues and financial issues that I do not share among the students or among the groups.
LaBoore,
Do you always select the groups yourself or do you allow them to self-select based on the introduction forums? Is one way better than the other for your classes?
Herbert Brown III
I also will establish a chat forum so students can get to know one another. When I set up the groups, I also try to put students who may be from same timezone, state, or even city so they can feel a sense of connection. With my at risk students, I used to send them a personalized email letting them know that tutoring services are available either through me or via the university, if applicable.
My institution does not permit assessments unless they can be recorded and stored. I must complete the assessment as stated in the course policy but I will talk with students by phone, live chat, and in IM about their performance and about ways to improve their performance and MY performance.
Time is often the issue.. students are often working adults with "crazy" schedules. I meet and talk with student 24/7 as needed;
Students determine the amount and the type of interaction. I can only suggest and advise.
If the course work requires them to share private information and they do not, we talk and I ask them to talk with their adviser about this.
I can ask them to tell an experience of another person, or we talk about an experience and agree on how they can express that to others without damaging their self esteem.
Part of good admission program is to inform students of the expectations for the academic program.
I am not alone... I ask for assistance.
We must convey the reasons and justification for sharing private information.
Please note that we do not want to know confidential information.
Finally, I communicate the expectations for successfully completing the course while engaging students at risk.
