Using IM and Live chats
IM (Instant Messaging) and live chats permit immediate and direct response to student questions.
Consider allowing substantial time for IM throughout the week to reduce the frustration of waiting for an instructor's reply.
Consider using IM to "hunt" students and ask for their feedback on how they are doing... You send an email to initiate the discussion for students whom you believe are in danger of being high risk. Request a meeting in live chat so that the student can hear your voice.
Richard,
I use these tools a lot as well. I find that I can resolve many issues faster by the students simply sharing their screen with me and I can walk them through issues. Google Hangouts is helpful and I have used join.me as well. Any tool I can talk to the students and they can share their screens and details works well.
Herbert Brown III
Richard,
I use these tools a lot as well. I find that I can resolve many issues faster by the students simply sharing their screen with me and I can walk them through issues. Google Hangouts is helpful and I have used join.me as well. Any tool I can talk to the students and they can share their screens and details works well.
Herbert Brown III
I have found that Google voice is great as well as Skype, between the two students can get a hold of me anywhere and I can use Skype screen share to immediately see the problem and solve it for them. I also find that sometimes it's really a problem of terminology, being that the student doesn't know what they need to look for in order to find out information on their project.
I also encourage students to contact me via cell phone chat. This lets them know that I care and am available even when I am away from the CMS. As long as guidelines are provided ahead of time and are enforced, this works well in most instances.
Albert,
Sounds like a software glitch. I like how you send the students an IM message telling them you are online so they can connect if they need to.
Herbert Brown III
At the beginning of every chat I send an IM reminder that I am online.
My only complaint is that the software is not always "consistent and accurate" on listing students.
Therefore I use two browsers to log into the online campus. That problem listing students is eliminated, ... goes away.... why? I have absolutely no idea.
When I have chat sometimes I will look and see who is online from the IM message board and invite them to chat. Sometimes students become so engrossed in what they are doing that they sometimes just forget. They never complain.
When a student is frustrated or looking for the "answer", I ask for phone communication, for meeting in a live chat, a meeting with IM, or a combination of all of the above.
The student is challenged to engage me as facilitator. Live and direct contact is available in my institution as well as live contact with other tutors in the institution.
I call them Students at Risk.
Finally, throughout the interaction I communicate my expectations of what they need to do to successfully complete the course and the assignment at hand.
Albert,
What if you make all the effort to connect and help them and they won't take the help and won't connect with you? They just keep sending emails asking for "steps" in the help process where if they connected with you live you could have it resolved in 5 minutes.
Herbert Brown III
