Sueanne,
Emphasizing professional communication and professional interactions with others is important to continue to model and expect from students. Your last two sentences are great advice. Thanks!
For the student the most important is that their email is professional. That means is it one they would send to their boss. Always use complete sentences, punctuation, review for spelling and no texting language. Second, the email must always be courteous. There is a right way and a wrong way to question a grade received on an assignment. I also stressed that emails must be specific to the assignment and clear on the question. I initially found myself responding to too many emails just to ask for more information. Also, if we have responded twice on the same question and the student still has more questions then we need to move it to a phone call. Last, guidelines were established that email response time can be up to 24 hours but I was responding within 1-2 hours. This led to the students expecting this response time so I had to go back and reinforce the 24 hours.
Dori,
You are right. Sarcasm can really me misunderstood in written format such as email.
Thanks for bringing up that point.
The rules are to do so to their school email address, respond appropriately, don't use CAPS or lower case only, address the student by name and sign mine back. Try to respond as quickly as possible, never more than 24 hours later. Be courteous and not sarcastic, it can be misconstrued.
megan,
Sounds like you have access everywhere you go. Just be careful not to become a 24/7 online instructor. Thanks for your input.
I do aim to respond to students within 24 hours during the week and at least withing 48 hours on the weekend. It helps tremendously that the email built into the course syncs with my institutional email. I've actually begun encouraging students to use the platform messaging to contact me and I've stopped readily posting my email address on all my announcements. This way, students can easily reach me, it copies to my email (which syncs to my phone) AND it allows for an easy review of our past conversations since they are all listed when I open that student's message. It saves me a lot of time from hunting down the stray email from 3 weeks ago that is hiding in my outlook mail!
francis,
The subject line is key. Thanks for bringing that up. I tell the students - No subject line. . .I delete the email as I get too many span emails and don't trust all emails that come my way. Thanks!
Earl,
You are on track. Don't doubt yourself. We all have different rules and regulations and we need to stick with them to make sure we are professional, yet not overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing.
Wendy,
I agree with the 24 hour rule. I do out in my syllabus when I will be checking email and discussion board postings and when I will not as it is important that students understand I am not a 24/7 online instructor. They need to be timely in their communication as well. Thanks for your input.
Being honest, I came into this forum not fully sure if I had many rules beyond my 48 hour response requirement and checking my email 2x a day. That said, in reading comments about refraining from replying too often I think I had a light bulb go off. Waiting some to reply to emails (within professional reason) really would work well to dissuade students from expecting immediate responses.
Thanks!
Earl
I make it a point to reply to all emails as soon as I can. I instruct my class to email me with any questions and to give me a subject line and tell me what class they are in. I am always open to email from my class.
I respond to emails within 24 hours and try to check email several times a day when assignments are due. I believe it helps in developing a sense of community. I also try to be positive in tone.
Robert,
Right on. We have to adapt as they do. Hope these forums are helpful to you.
That's a great idea. Many of my students are using texts rather than email because it provides more immediate information.
Robert,
Have you tried Remind 101? You can set up a Remind 101 group, students can add themselves to the communication list and then when you send one message, it texts them instead of emails them. Many students like that.
Thanks!
I email my entire class when it something 'urgent' for them to know such as a rescheduled chat or an announcement they shouldn't miss.
Otherwise I use emails for private matters like concern for lack of participation, ways for them to improve on performance, and offering special help by phone invitations.
All personal items of grades etc. are private. Frequently I have students discussing personal health matter of self or family. I'm VERY careful about providing advice but do offer support letting a student know how I can help with their academic issues.
BTW: I appropriately involve the student's advisor in my communications particularly if it's about performance.
Julie,
Sounds like you have a process that works for you. Just note, if you respond within a couple of hours, the students will continue to expect that and then when you don't they may become frustrated. Remember your 24-48 hour rule so you don't become a 24-7 instructor.
I state that I will answer emails within 24 hours during regular business days and within 48 hours during weekends (but I usually respond within couple hours). I also share my phone number for emergencies and because I find that it’s easier sometimes to explain a concept over the phone.
David,
Reminders help. They have to develop the habit of "checking in" to make sure they are not missing the information they need. Thanks!
I let them know via email and an announcement to check their email often, the vast majority of communication will come via email, all email should be addressed with 24-36 hours, to state questions very clearly, etc.
