Students are not very forgiving when equipment or technology tools do not work. They are even more aggravated when a tool takes up more time than it saves. Another issue is technology that is not understood by a majority of the class. These are issues that must be worked out quickly or you may lose the focus of your students.

Hello For those of you that have implemented any of these tools in your course room, do you have any student feedback that you are willing to share? For example, I'm curious which tool seems to work the best. I realize it would vary based on need. However, I am wondering if a tool stands out as a top favorite with the students. Thank you Michele

Are there any tools and/or websites that allow you to create and take polls besides Twitter? I vaguely recall hearing about Instructors asking polling questions to their students and the students responding by text. I'm curious to see if this is similar to Twitter? Thank you Michele

I'm curious about using Blogs in the course room. I understand a Blog is an online journal. Is a Blog something that multiple people can access and share information? Or, is a Blog something that only one person updates? Thank you Michele

Hi I have a question regarding using Facebook as an online tool. I'll admit, I am not that familiar with Facebook. Is there any concern that the instructor may have access to the students personal information i.e. personal Facebook account? Thank you Michele

The role of the rubric is to properly assess how a person has done. It should clearly define the expectations and also any potential deficiencies that may be there. It is like an evaluation of the work. It is important that the rubric be known in advance of completing the work so that the expectations are clearly defined and specific. Sharon

It is important to understand generational roles because each generation has their own way of communicating. Some are more in to technology and others prefer not to use technology at all and they may even resent technology. It is also very important to understand the differences in how they do things because you can have a diverse group of people in the classroom that comes from many different generational times. One must be open minded and respectful of the differences that can occur. Sharon

The two most important considerations when developing a pattern of communication would be ensuring the communication is effective for all and also looking at the desired end result and then designing how to achieve it. Communication is no good without it being effective and effectively communicating is the key to success in all parts of our lives. We can model this to our students and then it will help the desired results of overall effective communication. Sharon

It is essential to create opportunities for students to communicate together in the online environment. Discussion threads are a great way to start. It is also good to encourage students to network and build a rapport with each other while in the online environment, many of them will be in the same classes together at different opportunities. When designing their communication opportunities, be especially concerned with: 1. The overall goal and objectives 2. How often communication needs to occur 3. Specific guidelines for expectations of the communication for and with each other. Considering these different areas to cover will assist a person in correctly designing the online communication that is wished to achieve and the students might even enjoy the overall process. Sharon

To appropriately evaluate work performance across several areas.

Difference generations respond differently to lecture, rules, and feedback.

Follow-up and communication patterns.

Student engagement, time, and usability.

Blogging is a great educational tool because it gives online students the opportunity to express their opinions, thoughts, and facts by means of a technology tool that is easy to use. They can be accessed anytime, and anywhere as long as you have internet access. Blogs can also be great technical tool for teachers to use in order to create classroom activities that extend beyond the traditional four walls of a school building.

The "six degrees of separation" in social networking simply means that once you join a social network site or sites,, you have the opportunity to connect with friends, family members, old classmates; as well as meet other people around the world. If you are a business owner, this is a great way to connect with customers, add new customers, as well a advertise your business to the world.

Rubrics give a student general guidelines for assignment completion. After grading an assignment it can be a good idea, time permitting and how far into a course a student is, to leave comments on how a student may improve their work in specific areas. Jim

Along with on-line interaction I meet with students once a week in class. Every class meeting I go over the syllabus and reinforce proper netiquette and course expectations. Jim

I use e-mails, sent to individual students who may be at risk for various reasons, to develop a one-on-one relationship with the student.

How should an instructor help a student communicate in an appropriate and professional manner? A student may use slang in an online course. I would like to help these students without insulting them.

At my college we use a certain LMS that requires students to make peer posts on discussion boards. It is necessary for me to spend a great deal of time to help students learn how to make these peer posts and get in the swing of posting to these forced discussions. Eventually the students do get it and I've been happy to see them even develop a community and support one another in learning. But I agree that there are much better ways, more efficient and effective ways, as mentioned in this module, to get students engaged in the online community. However, I'm not comfortable with using students' willingness to share personal information as a standard for building community. I'm comfortable with teacher and students keeping it professional and building relationships through discussions about course material and how that subject matter affects us in our daily lives. Does anyone think I'm offbase here?