Get Your Students Hired
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Online Language: Communicating with Students --> Helping Students Communicate Effectively Online
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
I found this interesting as I saw alot of the same issues arise in an online classroom discussed in this content. I personalized it at first, but now realize that these are natural conflicts that can arise in an online environment. I found the recommendations provided useful and I plan to apply them. Another interesting area of this content are the generational communication styles. This makes sense when working with adult learners in a college setting. I think the most difficult is when you have different generations, cultues, and learning styles all combined into one classroom. This becomes more difficult to accomodate, however I think applying alot of these tools when eliminate some of the conflict and open the communication for students to have a platform to express what works and what doesn't.
Student participation in an online setting is important. You have to communicate to students that they need to be proactive in their communication and willingness to respond, reach out, communicate, etc.
I learned that differnet generational groupd are mor comfortable with diverse communication and may repsond to alternate forms of communication negatively. It is important when communicating with online learners to take these difference into accoutn and address each in the way I ommunicate with a class.
Communicate with students individually and have a verbal conversation and find out about their life outside of school, ask what responsibilities they have and help guide them to create a study schedule and remind them you, the instructor, is available to answer questions and communicate your scheduled availability.
I thought the section where it mentioned what students need temprament-wise in regards to online courses was enlightening. I think its worth mentioning in the syllabus, essentially setting up expectations so students are aware of what they'll need to do and contribute in order to thrive within an online class environment.
Ensuring that the online environment is viewed as an open communication environment is important, but it is also important that the instructor enforces online civility and civil conversation between students and between students and instructor. Detailing guidelines from the beginning of the course for behavior and nettiqute is important.
Various types of students need to function in an online learning environment. The environment should be open and friendly fostering a learning situation where students can participate, use technology, and communicate effectively.
As instructors we should plan accordingly due to the different generational groups in our classroom and develop guidelines and activities in such a way that they may communicate and engage with each other smoothly and effectively.
It is important to not ignore students who are quiet and provide a method to engage them.
Ensuring the instructor is providing opportunities for students to learn from each other and facilitate class engagement.
Different generations uses technology differently and have different expections of how it is used.
As in all communication, the process of online discussions must always move forward. An instructor should continue the string with comments and questions that will encourage feedback and remarks from the students.
These ideas are very helpful when thinking about engaging the quiet student. I really like the idea of having different students be in charge of moderating the discussion. We are working with a blended curriculum in a fast paced program so having enough synchronous time to incorporate some of these ideas will be a challenge.
I think one of the big shortcomings I see in my institution is in the onboarding of students. Many of the points here about communication competency and technical competency appear in my virtual classroom, making me suspect that there is no assessement upon enrollment.
I have learned in this module the importance of communication considering the different generations and their method of communicating. There are many more challenges in communicating online in comparison to F2F teaching, you must reach out to the student if they are struggling or not communicating with you. The students and the instructors must implement many strategies to be successful online including time management, discipline, computer competency skills, and having good writing skills, just to name a few.
I learned that it is imperative for educators to understand generational diversity to help identify strengths and weaknesses in traditional and nontraditional students. It is also important to identify students' technical skills and equip them with the tools they need in order to be effective and successful while attending online courses. Soft skills also play a major role in online learning, such as communication, self-discipline, time management, critical thinking, and open-mindedness.