I like to deliver feedback using the "sandwich method." Point out the good, talk about things that were not done so well, and ending with something positive. The first positive helps to engage the student by recognizing something done well (the student will want to read more to see what other compliments are in the feedback). Then the "teaching moments," followed by something else the student did well. The student then leaves with "I am doing all of xxxx well, if I just work on yyyy, I will be able to do well in this class." Rodney C.

When doing an online syllabus, I put in multiple "hints" in the syllabus to help students now what to focus on for the week. I feel this helps students to not feel overwhelmed when assigned to read multiple chapters, and at times review multiple sources. I supplement this by doing a "Hints Announcement" each week as a reminder what is most important to know for the concepts and assignemnts for the week. Rodney C.

Here is a message that I email to the students (and their advisors) in the second week if there has been no participation in the class. Subject: Welcome to the Class! Welcome to the class! We will have an exciting xxx weeks, and I just wanted to send this quick note to remind you that due to the accelerated nature of this course it can be challenging to catch up if you fall behind. I want to see you do well, so be sure to read the “Hints” announcements that I will each week, and of course if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me via email. I am sure that together we will figure out "what needs to be done" so that you excel in this class! School is an exciting time, and going to school is not easy, but the long-term benefits and the unbelievable sense of accomplishment when you are done will prove to you that you "did the right thing!"

All courses today uses discussion threads to engage students in course subject matter. As an instructor do you respond each thread posted by students or are you selective?

As an online instructor, I have found one of the most important methods of supporting students and helping to keep them engaged is to be warm and enthusiastic in my responses. When I post a friendly bio, respond thoughtfully to each student bio, and also engage students with warm and inviting responses, I find that students respond very well. Indeed, one of the more common comments I hear about my classes is how friendly and inviting the atmosphere is. Students feel supported and therefore comfortable to approach me when they have challenges.

Greetings! Students learn best when the instructor employs a variety of methods for engagement. If the instructor has the opportunity to employ both the synchronistic and asynchronistic formats, she will be able to reach a lot of students and appeal to their different styles of learning. I have had the opportunity to use both in my classroom, and I appreciate the chance to engage with students through powerpoints and live discussions. I also realize that this style of teaching does not appeal to the more independent student, and I enjoy actively engaging on the discussion board and posting additional materials for the student to enjoy.

I have taught online for almost seven years, and I believe the optimal online student-instructor ratio is 15-20 students. Less is great, too, of course. When we have a range of students, though, this allows for more stimulating dialogue and discussion. As well, the ratio is small enough to allow for enough one on one interaction.

Greetings! I think the most important component of supporting student retention is a strong instructor presence. This is maintained by adapting one's teaching methods to accommodate the diversity of adult learners in the classroom. This is quite important when considering the students have a range of learning styles and needs depending on their backgrounds and personal profiles.

Greetings, class! We are having a wonderful discussion on world religions. I want to share a link with you that provides additional articles and information on a variety of religious traditions. The site is: www.beliefnet.com. Enjoy!

I attempt to find tools for 21st century learning. Here is a resource Using e-Learning To Facilitate 21st Century Learning = http://www.slideshare.net/zaid/using-elearning-to-facilitate-21st-century-learning What are your thoughts about this?

I think there are so many more than four - for example, see The Ten Crucial Roles of the Online Instructor http://mindgatemedia.com/2011/03/14/the-ten-crucial-roles-of-the-online-instructor/

The problems I have seen with synchronous tools like webinars is that they tend to be teacher-centered. How can these tools be used to promote student-centric learning? For example, in my sessions, I give permission for students to use their webcams so they can discuss their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the group.

I attempt to continue to update the courses I develop to reflect current trends. For example, this past fall I developed and taught a course on Social Networked Learning - here is a blog post I wrote about it http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/educators-as-social-networked-learners/

Hello everyone, I think there are many skills an instructor can employ to manage the broad scope of learners that they have in their classroom(s). One of the most important tools that I have found to be helpful is listening to student suggestions on how to improve assignments or instruction while the course is being conducted, rather than waiting to see suggestions via end of course surveys. I have found that making small changes as the course progresses can help groups of students, rather than just one single student, especially if suggestions for changes are made more than once. Any thoughts on this practice or its uses? I look forward to hearing your feedback! Best, Shaheen Christie

Hello everyone, I agree that using videos in the classroom can reinforce a message you are talking about with your students, however, I really enjoy spending the time talking with them rather than putting on a video. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not suggesting links for students to view a video after a chat session ends is still effective use of video tools? This way students may view video pieces on their own time? I look forward to your feedback! Best, Shaheen Christie

Hello everyone, I believe that helping students realize their mistakes in submitted work is the best way to help them improve on future assignments. This is one aspect of helping my students become better online learners that I have come to struggle with in my classroom. If a student's work is filled with errors, should the instructor spend time fixing all of them, or notify the student of numerous types of errors and let them find them on their own time? I have struggled with answering this and thinking about this issue for some time. Please share any thoughts on this question, I look forward to your feedback! Best, Shaheen Christie

Okay -- while "You are bloody brilliant!" is a bit over the top the point here is that we, as online educators, must use every trick and educational strategy available to keep our students engaged, interested, and active in the course. If not the ugly word "attrition" comes into play, and it can hurt us by there not being enough students to have us teach a course. The Quiet students are the ones most likely to drop out, and we have to quickly prop them up -- they are like balloons that have come to our classes already partially deflated; our job is to inflate them. There are two major ways this can be done: getting the student to open up about some part of his / her life that relates to the subject of the course and pointing out this, that, and the other thing a student writes in discussion or does on an assignment that is good. Doing this latter one can go a long way to blowing up that balloon, for the student suddenly knows we like what he / she has to offer, and it builds up the student's confidence. I don't know how many hundreds of times I've seen this happen, but in 19 years of teaching online it is rare when telling a student an offshoot of "You are bloody brilliant!" does not work.

Reality-based education is a term I came up with several years ago, and it speaks to using the real worlds of the students to teach the subject matter. If a student is taught subject matter only with the thought of doing well in the course --to what end has that student learned the material? But when the student is shown how the subject of the course relates to his or her world of employment and personal life that two-dimensional course material becomes three-dimensional -- and the student has a much better chance of retaining the information because it has now touched beyond merely the mind, it has touched the student's life far beyond the course. And here's a suggestion: in a discussion thread have students talk about the subject of the course as it relates to their lives outside the course. Students love doing this, and you'll get more engagement and the students will have a better understanding of how the course relates to their lives.

The heading for this thread is meant to draw attention to a crucial problem found in all subject areas in many online courses: the inability of supervisors, web and course developers, and administrators to put together courses that read well – i.e., good English – and stocked with a logical, clear, and easy-to-access set of assignments, lectures, discussion boards, et al. Again and again students will wander through a course and discover poor grammar and punctuation, spelling and proofreading errors, and vague content; assignments that are missing components, are not easy to understand, or don’t seem to match the readings; and a course layout that is arbitrary, illogical, and / or difficult to access. In cases like this it makes no difference how qualified or enthusiastic or available is the instructor; the students can be quickly discouraged, confused, and inattentive by the powers that be when they do not put enough care into the overall reading, structure, and layout of the course.

We teach our students via a computer; at the other end students react to what we write, our suggestions, our presence, and our enthusiasm. These last two items -- presence and enthusiasm -- are especially critical, for these form the critical "blood supply" that keeps that umbilical cord pumping away between instructor and students; when the flow of this is weak or non-existent the students' interest, engagement, and excitement for the course soon dies, and thus their online learning experience becomes one that is wasted. We can write and suggest all over the place -- that's easy -- but to make these come alive and having meaning our presence must be constant and our enthusiasm must be on-going.