By using live lab in my class where the student can enter act with the instruct has been a great help in the communication process. In the live labs the students can ask question about the topics of the week or ask any questions that they might have about that weeks assignment.

I think this is another F2F thing that is easier, as we can usually "see" what generation folks are from. I find that the Intros allow us a bit of insight into what generation we are working with. As I am a Baby Boomer, who prefers to work alone I can work with more than one generation a bit easier than some I have spoken with, however [with that said] I am not sure I am doing a great job online of helping each at their level. Can anyone share a strategy they are using in their online class to ensure they are easily accepted by any generation? Or can anyone share how they are determining what generations they are working with? I look forward to your responses. Thanks kam

I love taking these courses as it reminds me [as an instructor] of things I can include in my classes to enhance the students' experience as well as lessen my load. The idea of creating a specific document (outside of my already posted Office Hours) can minimize students writing at 11:50 PM on the night an assignment is due, expecting an immediate response. In upcoming classes I am going to email and post a note as to when I am online specifically. Though it may vary, there are times I know for sure I am online, including during the early hours of a day when assignments are due. Specifically stating this may help with those last minute requests, that I never can get to. Has anyone tried this? How did it work for you?

While reading through this section, and these comments, a common "melody" rang through my head... as instructors we want to be available, however if we have chat rooms and instant messaging and question threads and email and and and..... however students are not taking advantage of all of those resources, are we spreading ourselves thin to then go out and create additional channels for students to utilize? As instructors we are already checking numerous avenues of contact as offered by our schools and our creation (I create "question" and "let's talk" threads, as well as continuously remind students to be in touch via all the method available) is creating an alternate avenue just giving us extra work? Though none may use it we would still have to maintain and monitor it. As well, many of us [as adjuncts] work for more than one school, which would mean several additional sites to monitor.....any thoughts?

I prefer blogging over tweets because with tweets, students may be inclined to "shoot from the hip" in creating responses. With blogging, the student must spend more time formulating a response which gives more time for reflection and analysis.

I can see how micro-blogging would be helpful in the classroom. Are there any tutorials that would help an instructor understand how tweets work?

Using the framework of Bloom's taxonomy, what would be a good way to begin the introduction of social networking in the classroom? I have introduced social networking in partnership with an online grade reporting tool. Students are required to communicate with the instructor and other students using this tool. I have found that this open forum of communication is helpful in reaching students beyond the physical and time constraints of the classroom.

Using supportive and constructive criticism is a communication trait that I always try to model with my online students. Even when a student is frustrated, I try to give advice that will help them meet their end goal in a very direct and constructive way. Not all students are good at mirroring this behavior. Any suggestions from any of you on how to encourage students to use less negative language (with each other and with their instructor) when they are frustrated?

Frequently the words "ADA" or "ADHD" are used as a metaphor in conversation. When this comes up with a student, do you feel that we should move right to our ADA/504 coordinator? Or should you ask a clarifying question?

As as educator of K-12 educators, I follow trends in the field via Twitter. It has been an invaluable addition to my life. In fact the US Department of Education sponsors a yearly (this is the second year) Connected Educators Month each year - see http://connectededucators.org/ . Teacher often work in silos of isolation (Sheryl Nussenbaum) and Twitter brings them out of the isolation to connect and share with; and learn from their peers. There are some principals on Twitter who state that they want their teachers to connect via Twitter and consider that factor as part of their hiring process. Here are some references that discuss the why and how of Twitter. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb10/vol67/num05/Why-Teachers-Should-Try-Twitter.aspx http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/twitter-for-educators-beginners-guide.html http://rossieronline.usc.edu/twitter-for-teachers/

I believe that rubrics can empower students by providing specific guidelines and expectations. When you have it all spelled out in front of you it helps to alleviate stress that often times is associated with posting to public forums and boards.

My classes are quite diverse when it comes to how students communicate with each other. I've been teaching online for just about a year now. Luckily, I have yet to run into any arguments or inappropriate student behavior. However I have noticed that some students are more, well, talkative than others. This was always the case in my F2F classes, but students could see who would converse and who wouldn't in those classes; it's significantly harder to do that online. I see some of the more gregarious students trying to engage the less talkative students and often the more gregarious students get left hanging, questions unanswered by their classmate. I try to step in and help but it's hard if there are specific questions being asked. Is there some way I can help this or is it just a casualty of online learning?

The courses I teach are 6 weeks long. Students get a lot of information during that time and I try to be as available as possible. We have online live chats twice a week but since they are not required, they don't have high attendance rates. I was thinking about creating an IM account and saying that I'll be signed on for questions at a certain time on certain days. Do you think this is a good idea? If so, which IM host is best? I use Facebook chat but that's about it. Do people still use Yahoo! or AOL chat?

Building community is a fast pace, accelerated program is very difficult. With limited time for study and participation, it seems that students would rather focus on content and not on getting to know each other better. Then comes a group project, and because they have minimal personal knowledge of each other, there is a lot of stress and tension among them. This is especially difficult when the group project is the last assignment in the course. One alternative is to create the groups at the beginning of the session so students can start relating and building community. In many of my classes, although the group project is the last assignment, I’ll create groups in the small group area just for socializing and call it the “Study Room”. The in the chat and announcements I’ll let them know the purpose of the Study Room, which is not the project (assignment) but a way to get to know each other so the small group resources don’t go to waste until we start the project the last week of class. In this Study room I encourage students to meet, greet, share, and study together using the small group resources (DB, chat, emails). Not all students participate actively in the Study Room, but I’ve found this helps both communications practices and establish personal connections that reduce the stresses and strains of the last week of class, especially in those students that want to socialize with others and use these connections to enhance their learning. What I’m trying to argue is that it’s easier to manage community building and collaboration when there is a smaller group. Even when using MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), creating small groups can help preserve communication practices and community building. Does anyone have other ideas on collaboration and building communities in MOOCs?

Course that have group projects represent a great opportunity to see the communications dynamics between generations. It’s very easy to see, for example, those that want to work offline using teleconferencing and face to face meeting (Baby Boomers) and those that prefer the online (live) chat to complete the project. Or those that have great technical abilities (Millennials) and those students that hate group projects and would rather work alone (Gen X). So as much as students tend to resist group projects within the online environment, the dynamics among them can clearly serve as a generational marker for the facilitator. The risk of student labeling non withstanding, reactions and preferences observed during small group activities can serve as a source for identifying generational differences in a smaller setting than the main classroom. Being able to reliably identify communications preferences by generation also leads to better selection of resources for building the learning community in the broader sense. Observing group dynamics works for me when the group projects are within the session, but when they are the last deliverable in the course, the point is mute. Is anyone else using small group dynamics to assess generational communications preferences to align proper resources?

As new students come into the online environment, especially at graduate level, they have already acquired expectations and habits that may enhance or disrupt the communications process. I suspect most already have a sense of using proper protocols, and guidelines, but may need some prompting and encouraging on creating new communications habits and breaking older ones. To me, there is a certain “maturation process” that goes along with communications, meaning that improving communications effectiveness is an ongoing process. Yet in students that take a few classes with me, I get the impression they just want to adapt to the course expectations and content as best they can rather than take the opportunity to improve. Granted there are students that focus energies on communicating effectively and abide by the communications code, but there are others that just want to concentrate on the content and have less of a regard for process or even feedback. Of course class announcements and the communications rubrics will help manage these situations, but I’m wondering if it’s also practical (and perhaps effective) to include communications assessments in the overall program effectiveness assessments. Many universities have assessments of student progress throughout the program, but should there also be an assessment of “communications maturity” especially at graduate level? I’d be interested in reading some opinions regarding the implementation, monitoring and assessing of communications maturity through the different graduate programs.

Most of my students are capable to adapting and coaching me as an instructor into the communications tool they feel most comfortable using, sometimes even despite my promptings. But the students I'm worried about he most are those for which English is a second language. When I detect grammar or flow problems with emails or IMs, I’ll attempt a phone call or use a VoIP tool. Interestingly enough, I find that students with difficulties in English as a Second Language tend to also have problems with many communications technologies. I don’t want to over simplify, but telephone contact with students for which English is a second language seems to work best for me. I’m wondering if anyone else has a similar or different experience.

I think it is finding the proper amount of time to study. Students need to ensure they are reading the materials in the class, watching the videos and lectures, reading the book, etc. in order to ensure they are properly engaged in the classroom.

I use both methods. The issues I see many students encounter I will cover in a live lecture or live tutoring session. I also save this for those who want to view later on at their leisure to help them complete the task and understand the material.

I set the tone by leading by example. It is okay to agree to disagree. You can also set the rules up front as to what type of conduct is permitted in the online classroom so there is no question as to what needs to be done.