Communication and collaboration are essential elements in an online course to create a sense of community.

Generational differences are important when understanding student communication/behaviors.

Set clear communciation guidelines and boundaries with student at the onset.

Texting and phone calls to students in an online format are very effective ways of communicating. 

Student engagement from the beginning is critical. Reaching out at the beginning of the course with a welcome message can go a long way in engaging a student.

Timely and informative feedback is the most important aspect of being an instructor. 

Guidelines are important for both synchronous and asynchronous learning. 

The online instructor has many tools at their disposal. The online instrutor must match the tool to its function to best serve student needs. 

Courses must be evaluated utilizing multiple sources of data.  These can include surveys, pre/post tests, student interviews, and peer observations.

I like the idea of utilizing exit tickets as assessment.  Exit tickets could be utilized to summarize discussion threads at the end of each week to assess knowledge.