Communicate with Students

Student Experience

All of us have experienced a face to face classroom at some point in our lives, be it college or K-12.  Something we should always keep in the forefront of our mind when designing online courses though, is that many students have never experienced an online course before yours. The course you are teaching may be their first experience online ever.

In a face to face classroom, there is a typical set up and set of norms that students have been trained, by experience, to expect. There are probably chairs, some sort of “stage” area near the front of the room, whiteboards, a projector, etc. It’s clear when they walk in, even if the room is empty, what they are expected to do.

Take this same experience and put it in the online environment. When students enter the room in a class, you don’t want them to find it empty, with no chairs, lights off, and no clear purpose to the space. Since it might be their first time in an online course, students are likely a little anxious as well. For that reason, it’s best if you’re there “waiting” for them with an introduction and instructions.

Many of the resources in this orientation are present to help alleviate the anxiety of the empty classroom. There are instructor introductions, a place for students to introduce themselves, and support or help resources if things go wrong. This “Getting Started” experience is vital to student success in online courses.

But what about after?

You may have heard from students that they expect online courses to be easier than face to face, but in reality, that’s not true for a lot of students. Everything in an online course is an “assignment”. Everything is something that students have to do. Without a clear structure to the course, many students will fall victim to procrastination.

Here are some tips to guide students toward success in online courses:

  • Be accessible to students via email and try to reply promptly (within 24 hours during the work week or 48 hours over weekends). Remember that email may be the only way students have to reach you.
  • Spend some time thinking about how you would present assignments and readings in a face-to-face course, and work to translate all of that information in some way online, be it through written instructions or videos.
  • When possible, be flexible with student misunderstandings. Students may have read something incorrectly, misunderstood instructions, or overlooked a needed resource.
  • Provide a structure for activities and stick to it throughout the entire semester. Pick days of the week that certain types of activities will be due. For example, always have initial discussion forum posts due on Tuesdays and the replies on Friday and/or always have students complete quizzes on Sundays.
  • Keep in mind your facilitation load. Students don’t see you in person to hear your comments that help to clarify misunderstandings, so they rely heavily on your feedback on their work to learn. Without that feedback, online courses are a very one-way experience for students.  When planning your course, be sure to balance student workload with your own workload, so you’re not assigning students work when you are incapable of providing feedback. Rely on Canvas’s auto graded quizzing features and peer-review tool to provide feedback when you’re not able.
More Online Study Tips for Students are available at: https://www.usu.edu/online/tips

Types of Interactions

In a typical classroom, students engage with each other and the instructor in a variety of formats.  Some arrive early and chat while waiting for class to begin, others meet new people by working in groups.  The instructor is readily available to answer questions as needed.  In an online course, the instructor must be intentional to build a variety of activities to encourage interaction.  There are three types of interaction in online courses:

Student to Student – This type of interaction can be promoted in many ways. Discussion forums allow students to share their thoughts and respond to other students.  Instead of having thirty people in one discussion forum, consider breaking the students into discussion groups where they can get to know each other in a more meaningful manner.  Even though a course is online, students may work in groups to complete assignments or projects. Various technology tools make collaborating an easy task. Canvas provides an easy way for students to provide peer reviews of assignments. Presentations are a great option for online courses.  Students may record a narrated presentation and share it with the whole class.  Also, a student lounge may be created as an informal discussion forum.  Students can use this forum to ask each other questions about the course or other college activities.

Student to Content – A primary way students will learn course material is by engaging with the content you provide. As mentioned previously, course content should be developed using a variety of methods.  Students should directly engage with this content and use it to complete activities and assessments.

Student to Faculty – Students should feel your presence in the course. There are many ways that you can interact with students directly and indirectly.  Since this is an online course, send a weekly announcement explaining the focus and activities for the module.  Engage with students in the discussion forums.  Provide timely and thorough feedback on activities and assessments. Email students who are struggling and offer to meet virtually.  Encourage students to attend online office hours conducted through Zoom. Even though you don’t meet face to face, there are many ways to interact with students.

Communication and Netiquette Guidelines

It is important in an online course that you work with students to develop a collaborative, safe, and friendly environment. One way of doing so is through good communication. All online courses should establish netiquette guidelines.  The following are netiquette guidelines to share with your students.

  • Maintain a professional and courteous tone in all communications with your peers and with your instructor.
  • Don't type in ALL CAPS - it's like you're shouting. 
  • Be aware of the effect of punctuation like exclamation points. When in doubt, just end your sentence with a period.
  • Wait a little while before responding to something that makes you angry. This will give you a chance to cool down before you type something you'll regret later.
  • Be careful of using humor and sarcasm in written communication. It can be easy to misunderstand without accompanying facial expressions and body language. Humor and sarcasm can also sometimes be intentionally or unintentionally offensive.
  • It's okay to disagree with one another. Disagreement is one way we further our knowledge and understanding, but be sure you express your disagreement in a respectful way. Remember that disagreement is not the same as disrespect.
  • Video recordings should use appropriate language: both spoken and body language.
  • Separate paragraphs with line breaks. 
  • Start your emails with a salutation (Hi Jim,) and end with your name.
  • Reply to emails and messages in a timely manner.
  • Use informative subject lines (e.g. "Cindy Patel's Introduction" rather than "hi".)
  • Write in complete sentences and avoid abbreviations and "text-speak".

As the instructor, it is your responsibility to ensure students engage appropriately.  Always monitor your course and send netiquette reminders as needed.