Online Communication Tools:
Great Courses Take a Student Centered-Teacher Present Approach!
This page contains information about how to use discussion forums, blogs, wikis, hangouts and other communication tools that teachers use in online learning environments.
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Communication with Students: Communication with your students is a critical component to the success of your courses and of your students. There are many forms of communication in a DE course and all fall under the category of "Regular Effective Contact"
Announcements: The announcements area of your course could be considered as the "front of the classroom" where you provide regular information to the whole class. The main tip with this is to change it often and make the information valuable. You wouldn't get up one time in front of your class all semester in a traditional course, so why do that in an online course? You can use announcements to announce events at the institution, changes in course assignments or tests, giving accolades to students who have done well, announcing office hours and more!
Email: Email should be used sparingly to save you from having to be a slave to your inbox.
Tips:
Discussion Forums: Discussions should be included in the regular activities of your course. Create questions that relate to content and call for substantiated opinions of the students. There are many kinds of discussion forums to post in addition to content questions. Some suggestions are: Q & A for questions for the instructor (check often); "In the Hall" where students can just talk, like they would on campus; Technical Q & A; Course feedback board.
Blogs: Blogs are online journals that support text, images, videos and links to websites. A blog can be a dynamic and empowering tool to integrate into online learning, as they open the thoughts and ideas of each student to the entire class. Blogs can also provide students with an opportunity to personalize their learning space, extending options for customizing the look and feel of the blog, adding supplemental images of friends or family, and even the option to play music! Some course management systems include a blogs as a basic tool but many do not and some are, unfortunately, difficult to use, provide few options for customization, or don't support the option for students to comment on the blogs (an important component of moving "reflections" into "discussions" and ensuring students are learning from each others' ideas).
Authentic Blogging in a Course: “As a practice, blogging is situated between a variety of different tensions - orality and textuality, corporeality and spatiality, practice and artifact. In essence, blogging is a liminal practice that challenges other practices in the process of defining itself.” (boyd, 2005)
Using Blogs in a the Classroom: http://startbloggingonline.com/get-started-classroom-blogging/
Blogs should be:
Examples:
External Blog Tools
There are many external blog tools that are free to low cost and may be considered for supplementing an online course.
Wikis:
A wiki is a website that can be edited by multiple users (defined by the customized settings). Some CMS have wiki tools that can be integrated into a course shell but there are also many free wiki providers that make using wikis for learning easy and free.
Why use a wiki for an activity tool? Wikis can be terrific tools for enabling group projects.
Wikis can be used as alternatives for writing research papers. Perhaps you want to consider giving your students a choice to fulfill objectives through the writing of a paper or construction of a wiki? Consider this example from Amanda Paskey at Cosumnes River College. To view the captions for the video, click on the "CC" in the toolbar.
_____________________________________
Communication with Students: Communication with your students is a critical component to the success of your courses and of your students. There are many forms of communication in a DE course and all fall under the category of "Regular Effective Contact"
Announcements: The announcements area of your course could be considered as the "front of the classroom" where you provide regular information to the whole class. The main tip with this is to change it often and make the information valuable. You wouldn't get up one time in front of your class all semester in a traditional course, so why do that in an online course? You can use announcements to announce events at the institution, changes in course assignments or tests, giving accolades to students who have done well, announcing office hours and more!
Email: Email should be used sparingly to save you from having to be a slave to your inbox.
Tips:
- If possible, make sure students use their school email
- Tell students to address email with the course ticket/section number in the subject line
- Tell students to use email only for private communication with you for topics such as grades, but use a Q & A discussion for other questions.
- Make sure you have announced your turn-around times and your days off
Discussion Forums: Discussions should be included in the regular activities of your course. Create questions that relate to content and call for substantiated opinions of the students. There are many kinds of discussion forums to post in addition to content questions. Some suggestions are: Q & A for questions for the instructor (check often); "In the Hall" where students can just talk, like they would on campus; Technical Q & A; Course feedback board.
- Discussion and Assignments Rubric
- Discussion Rubric and Etiquette
- Guidelines for Participating in Online Discussions
- How Interactive are YOUR Distance Courses
- sample discussion rubric2
- Strategies for Ensuring Integrity in Discussion Forums
Blogs: Blogs are online journals that support text, images, videos and links to websites. A blog can be a dynamic and empowering tool to integrate into online learning, as they open the thoughts and ideas of each student to the entire class. Blogs can also provide students with an opportunity to personalize their learning space, extending options for customizing the look and feel of the blog, adding supplemental images of friends or family, and even the option to play music! Some course management systems include a blogs as a basic tool but many do not and some are, unfortunately, difficult to use, provide few options for customization, or don't support the option for students to comment on the blogs (an important component of moving "reflections" into "discussions" and ensuring students are learning from each others' ideas).
Authentic Blogging in a Course: “As a practice, blogging is situated between a variety of different tensions - orality and textuality, corporeality and spatiality, practice and artifact. In essence, blogging is a liminal practice that challenges other practices in the process of defining itself.” (boyd, 2005)
Using Blogs in a the Classroom: http://startbloggingonline.com/get-started-classroom-blogging/
Blogs should be:
- Original, well-crafted and well informed
- Have authentic purpose
- Present a point of view: a blog should offer a window into the author’s identity and community affiliations
- Is a medium to offer a sense of immediacy and intimacy. Quoted from the above article
Examples:
- Using Blogs in Education Multiple Sites: http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/520
- Some good information and tips: http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/blog-basics
- Example of a Student Blog: Matthew's Wacky World of Art Appreciation
- Literature and Art Sample: The Secret Life of Bees (k-12 but a great idea)
- Seven Ways to Use Blogs in Your College Classroom: some good ideas for what kind of blogs to do
- Outside the Classroom Blog: Terwilliger's Blog (San Diego City College Instructor)http://sdccd106.wordpress.com/
External Blog Tools
There are many external blog tools that are free to low cost and may be considered for supplementing an online course.
- Blogger
- Wordpress
- Ning: Ning is actually a social networking site that provides the option to create a 'closed' social network for your students. Each member of the network is provided his/her own "page" which includes a blog. (Free higher education Ning Mini networks are provided as a courtesy of Pearson.)
Wikis:
A wiki is a website that can be edited by multiple users (defined by the customized settings). Some CMS have wiki tools that can be integrated into a course shell but there are also many free wiki providers that make using wikis for learning easy and free.
Why use a wiki for an activity tool? Wikis can be terrific tools for enabling group projects.
Wikis can be used as alternatives for writing research papers. Perhaps you want to consider giving your students a choice to fulfill objectives through the writing of a paper or construction of a wiki? Consider this example from Amanda Paskey at Cosumnes River College. To view the captions for the video, click on the "CC" in the toolbar.
- Other ideas- 50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom:http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/
- Wikis in Online Education: A great example and overview
