Using technology to get to know your student
I have been teaching online for since August of 2012. During this period I continue to evolve and use different strategies to get to know my student. I found out that while there is no “on size fit all†in the online environment a combination of strategies will yield maximum result.
My first line of contact is to send out my “Instructor’s Introductory Email†on the Sunday evening before the class starts. Despite doing this religiously, I learnt that not every student reads the email, so my conservative expectation is to get about 30-40% of my student to take a peek. During the first week of class I called each of my student and here again my expectation is speak to about 30-40% of my student, those I am unable to get in touch with will receive a voice mail from me if that option is available, and finally, a text is sent to all of my student that has a cell phone listed.
I think the Online Learning Environment is very dynamic and as I continue to read my peers postings I am learning new strategies and tips to help the student –my primary objective.
Suzanne,
It is interesting. We have to think about how we convert what we do in the F2F classroom to the virtual environment. Thanks for giving us some food for thought.
This is an interesting subject. When we are in a face-to-face environment, we expect that our students will absorb the material they are responsible for learning. When we are in an virtual environment, if there is a chat/lecture component, we expect that students will be held responsible for what we present, either actively in lectures through web cams or Adobe Connect or passively in postings such as announcements, emails, lecture notes or other learning materials. However, with the variety of communication tools including social media, it appears that our expectations have decreased and we seem to feel that we cannot use simply one vehicle or tool for communication. My peers and I have discussed the fact that posting announcements is never enough of an effort to communicate some information and that it should be supplemented with emails, at least. Perhaps the ease of transmission and multiple options is resulting in the decrease of the effectiveness of the tool. Does anyone have any success stories with using one approach or one communication device?
Suzanne
Neer,
One size all never works no matter what the label says. Ha! Keep trying new thing and evolving. I have been teach online since 1999 and I continue to evolve - definitely. Thanks.
