Dear Shirley and Samia,
I know what you are talking about and can certainly relate. It is all about communication. What I find interesting is that while we often have a lot of communication with our students, often students do not have as much communication with each other. For example, with group projects students tend to ask me a lot of the questions that they should be asking each other in their groups. It would be great to get the students to check their peers' work for spelling and grammar, and communicate effectively. However, many times this does not seem to happen a lot.
Tomi
This is an interesting comment. I repeat a lot and sometimes I feel like I am tired of repeating the same comments and the same feedback. I find that sometimes students start ignoring repeated messages and I have to find another way to approach them.
While there are many different techniques I used, the most important one is providing clear guidelines and resources to help students in following proper APA formatting style. This includes proper citations and use of references. Also, I provide a guide to recognizing academic quality references. In addition, I provide guidelines for email communication as well as discussion board etiquette.
To help students I try communicate the expectations for the class early and up-front to ease any apprehension and allow time for students to ask questions. For writing assignments I provide a bulleted list of "things to know", a sample essay and outline and links to references such as APA and plagiarism. For the student to see a sample essay with notations of "notice in-line citation format" or "always indent first line" shows an understandable picture. Due to the class subject spelling is critical and that is made know up-front and repeated throughout the class. There are several requirements or guidelines that are repeated each week. Repetition can be the key for some students. Also, one of the points I make sure to encourage is that the student can call me by my first name on the phone or in an email but at the same time making it clear I do not respond to emails addressed to "Hey". I was surprised by how many students said they had never had another instructor allow first name but I believe in doing so breaks down that wall or perception of negative authority especially to those students taking their first on-line class.
I help students improve their communication skills more than their reading and writing for an online course. I do show where mistakes have been made grammatically, where I post my comments in the grade book and I refer them to an outside source. I can't expect a huge improvement from many in a five week course but some are able to make some adjustments.
Communication in an online environment can be improved by sending personal emails to those who are not present in the discussion board. For those who are active, asking them direct questions and engaging them in the discussion is the easiest way to increase communication in the classroom.
If I see issues with how they are communicating such as unprofessional language, texting language, errors in their writing, tone or delayed responses, I address them individually or sometimes as a group so I don't offend that individual.
The use of APA is critical for students to use. I conduct several mini sessions in each lesson. Besides providing expectations, I give tid-bits of how to cite work and how to format references properly. I explain the need for proofing their work. This I tie in with time management as students tend to wait for the last possible moment to produce work and do not have the time to proof their work. Simple mistakes can be corrected if the student reads work before submission.
I typically post announcements defining course requirements, technical requirements in terms of software and statistical packages (I teach Statistics courses), late submission guidelines, participation requirements and options to meet them for discussion board assignments. I will also e-mail these expectations to students. Setting these expectations helps and answering related questions early in the course helps me to make sure students are aware of these expectations and understand them without any room for ambiguity. I will also reach out to students at the end of every week to discuss their course progress and to offer help as needed. Thanks
Stephanie,
You are right and that gives students they individualized learning they need. I actually have recorded me grading their paper and send them a file talking to them. The love it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Samia,
Great post, I am going to investigate the d intellipath. They could use the help grammatically.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Samia,
These are great strategies. How lucky are you with those resources? The rubric "connects the dots" to the students' communication with your expectations.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ruby,
These are great strategies. I find when students are held to expectations they will rise to them, meet them and surpass them. It is just important that we are consistent with good feedback.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Feedback. It is one thing to offer communication for the assignment, but to take the time and mark up the assignment provides direction.
Right you are Shirley!
The venues of the discussion boards, live chats, feedback, office hours and instant messaging all encourage the communication process.
As to writing skills and spelling, I am noting that Intellipath is assisting in that area. I say that because Inellipath does not allow errors in grammar,syntax, or English mechanics.
Samia Friesen
I am an instructor at a university that encourages, reading, writing, and APA labs. The university offers tutors and tutorials and is committed to 'writing across the curriculum'.
As an instructor, I recommend the above and the rubric places emphasis on writng and communication skills through grading of discussion boards, individual assignments, and group work.
Hello Dr. Wilkinson,
I provide my students with Writing Tips with some of the most common errors found in the discussions. I am careful not to overwhelm them with a lot of grammar rules, so I just focus on common errors' punctuation, misspelled words, and fragmented sentences, etc.
I also provide them with the edit remarks applied by my grammar checker it will reinforce the importance of watching for future errors.
My students appreciate these tips.
Ruby Whitehead
Mamie,
You are so smart! This is so important and you hold everyone accountable. Does your program share the guide? In our online program we now share the same guide so we have consistency in the courses.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Christopher,
You make such valid points. You are right, it is practice, feedback, practice, feedback. . . . just as you said. Yes, we have to practice what we preach and set high expectations for us and for the students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Phyllis,
How do you get them to utilize them? What makes them improve?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Preparing students with effective communication skills is essential to their success in an online course. Since we are not face to face or in a traditional classroom setting, ensuring everyone's on the same page is key. To assist students with their reading, writing and communication skills, I'd develop a writing guide. This guide would include all of the CPAs to guide students accordingly. I would also provide students with an example of plagiarism and explain why this is considered plagiarism. By having a clear of example of what not to do, students can begin to write a well formatted essay or paper.
M. Allen
Improving reading, writing, and communication skills comes down to mentoring, practice, mentoring, and practice. This is a never ending process and should be ongoing. Also, practicing what you preach is a good idea as well. In order for students to improve their writing and communication skills the instructor has to have great writing skills.
-Chris
