Shanel,
You are right on! Setting those expectations is essential. Serving as a role model and providing examples is important. This goes for netiquette too. R-E-S-P-E-C-T - it was a song - Ha! - is very important.
Thank you.
Your communications should be consistant and clear. I believe being consistant and clear leads to students being better organized for the course. If their organization increases, they becomce more focused and ready to learn. This will increase their knowledge expontentially.
Along with those, you should should use proper tone and timeliness. Although tone is hard to convey electronically, you can use this to be postitive or negative.
Timeliness - make it a point to always make it clear about the timing of your online communications.
When establishing a pattern of communication, I believe that setting expectations is very important. Not only should those expectations should be set, but the instructor should follow them and give examples. Giving examples further enhance the understanding of what is expected.
Netiquette is also very important. When a student enrolls in school, especially after years of being out, the last thing they need is to feel unwelcome. Therefore, it is important to me to ensure that all students are being respectful to each other. They should understand that we are all here to learn from the course as well as from each other.
Sharon,
Right on! The pattern of communication should reinforce the learning objectives and help students understand what is expected of them.
There are various ways to develop the pattern of communication and we will all do it in various ways. However, you have listed many essential components.
Thanks!
When establishing a pattern of communication, the most important things to consider are academics and community. A clear, consistent pattern of communication will enhance student learning and build a community of support among students and between the students and the instructor.
The pattern of communication should reinforce the learning objectives. Students should be able to recieve timely, helpful communication from the instructor. Additionally, students should understand what is expected from them in one-on-one communications as well as discussion board and chat formats.
A firm adherence to nettequitte rules will avoid misunderstanding and hurt feelings that hinder strong community within the class. Students need to rely on each other and show respect for every member of the class, including the instructor, in order to foster an effective and supportive environment that helps all students to be successful.
Joel,
Totally agree. I put statements in my syllabus explaining what is the correct way to communicate in my course as well. If they email me and they do not have a subject line, I tell them their email will be deleted. When I teach business communications, I specifically state how we need to communicate as we are communicating in business.
Thanks for your input.
I have read the other responses to this thread and would add a slightly different spin to my answers. I believe that two important (if not MOST important) points to consider are environment and context.
Certain types of communication, such as texting shortcuts, lower case "i," and "u" rather than "you" may be fine in social environments but they are not acceptable in a more formal business or college level writing assignment. Regarding context, it may be acceptable to share personal stories or views when introducing ourselves, but it may not be appropriate when we are asked to comment on the observations of recognized experts (unless we happen to be one!).
By both explicitly and implicitly establishing a framework for environment and context, we can more clearly communicate to our students what is expected of them. I do this by stating that this is a college-level course and your writing will be expected to meet that level of accomplishment. We will help you wherever needed but please do not use ALL CAPS, lower case "i," or other shortcuts! It takes persistence and reminders but it does work!
Allen,
Your comments on the forums bring light to important topics. As an instructor remember that you serve as a role model to students. Therefore, professionalism and respect are important.
Thanks for the input.
Hello All,
Good evening! When establishing a pattern of communication, two important items to consider is professionalism and respect. While the instructors are the educational leaders and facilitators in the class, they must remember that they are to treat students with professionalism and respect, and to foster this approach in formal course policy and by modeling it. Students must also absorb this message and embrace it. When it comes to course discussions and other aspects of the course with any type of communication, if respect and professionalism is practiced and maintained, there is less likely of a chance to have negative situations arise.
I welcome any comments or insights. Thank you.
Have a great night!
Allen
Quiana,
Thanks again for your input. Communication should be timely and frequent. This may be difficult at times, but is essential. Being clear and concise helps as well.
I remember telling my students "I don't understand what you don't understand." They needed to clarify the issues.
Thanks!
I would say providing clear well prepared information, so that the message can be understood. Brief one word answers may be direct and to the point, but allow for too much interpretation and often ambiguity. On the student side, it is important for students to learn how to be specific when asking questions or gaining clarification. Simply stating "I don't understand" will not assist the instructor in determining the best support method.
Second, I would say response time standards are crucial. The student must understand what the instructors response time will be and vice versa, so that the student can get the help they need.
Michelle,
Right on! Consistency and communication are the two big Cs in online learning. Also, as you noted frequent feedback and evaluation are essential.
Nice job!
Consistency, consistency, consistency …. I truly believe consistency is one of the keys in an online learning environment. Students learn to expect and rely on the instructor’s presence “in†the classroom. Instructor need to be consistent on feedback, returning emails/phone calls, and presence within the weekly discussion board/forum. This also applies to grading and classroom etiquette. All students need to be held accountable for their actions equally.
I believe the second most important factor is timeliness. Students want the answer to their question yesterday. They want feedback for their assignments as soon as it is submitted. They want what they want when they want it. It is vital for an instructor to adhere to a timeline. Students should receive a return email or phone call, I believe, in 24 hours. Assignments should be graded within 48 hours unless otherwise specified. I, personally, grade every day. I do not wait until the assignment deadline to grade an assignment. If the student submits work early, I feel they should receive the feedback early as well. This practice also helps with “assignment overload†on the day of the deadline.
All instructor guidelines and expectations should be communicated before and during the course as well.
Ms. Melendrez,
Yes, sarcasm and jokes do not translate well in an online environment. Thanks!
what the topic of duscisson is about and establishing a time line to follow. Sticking to the topic is vital and keeping track of your time can be the difference between getting the task complete and not finishing.
I believe two important things to consider when establishing a pattern of communication are the students' online class experiences and how the instructor responds to the students. These are important because netiquette must be modeled and positive for the learners' success.
Hi.We must be very careful with jokes and misunderstanding.I agree with you.
Ms Melendrez
Doug,
You hit on several important points. Thanks for adding to the converstation. I love having the Code of Conduct.
I agree that communication should be consistent and clear. Students should understand what is acceptable and unacceptable in an online environment. They should also understand the course guidelines and netiquette in the online environment. I am consistent in my classroom. I make my expectations clear and use a variety of mediums to reinforce them. I send the guidelines in a welcome letter. I post them on the announcement page. I also discuss them in the first live chat session. I also reinforce the guidelines throughout the semester. I give the students individualized feedback if they have difficulty following the guidelines.
Cathy
In my experience working with students in an online setting, guidelines explaining the timeframe for responding to questions is very important. The student needs to know that if a deadline is approaching and they have questions, how much time they have to post questions and expect a response in time for them to meet the deadline. I am constantly reminding students of the time-frame issue and that way there is no doubt that they had notice of response time issues. Having a Communication Code of Conduct is also very important. It is too easy to my a post out of frustration and hit "send" before you think about the consequences. I advise my students to take a minute to think about waht they are saying or use the "drafts" box and come back later to reread what they have written to make sure that is the proper response.
