Monte Poersch

When communicating with students it is essential to use a means of communication that is understandable based on their level of knowledge and ability to communicate.  The necessity to not attempt to communicate with everyone the same way is more evident in an online environment than in a face to face environment as it is much easier for the silent student to go unnoticed.

It is important to make students aware of what is acceptable communication and what is not.  Also outlining when and how they can contact you as the instructor is very important.

In developing a course, the use of technology can be an asset.  The key to evaluating the effectiveness of technology is to continue to monitor feedback from students to see if it is accomplishing what you originally intended it to do.  If it is not don't continue to use it in its current mode.  Be willing to either make adjustments to improve the effectiveness or abandon the use of that technology.  It is more important to have a successful outcome for the student than to hang onto "technology" for technology sake.

Providing consistency in modlule or lesson layout will provide a better learning experience for the student

Organization and familiarity with the LMS and technical issues students may encounter will save time and also give the student a better learning experience than if they must wait for others to answer their questions and concerns.

The use of discussions and how to mange them was the most important piece from this section.  I have not been good in the past in using discussions mainly because I just didn't know how or take the time to figure out how to make them effective.  This has given me some ideas on how to implement that component to my online classes.

Each type will need to be determined by the content that needs to be delivered.  I think anytime you can have actual interaction with students is a positive. Not all content must be done that way as we've found now through the pandemic situation.  Regardless of the method chosen content needs to be well organized and students have a good understanding of what is expected of them.

The ability to recognize the tools that are available to use for teaching, understanding your style of teaching and matching those togetther will result in the opimal student learning experience.

Gaining insight from multiple sources can help greatly in shoring up weaker aspects of your online course.

The most important piece of communication for a student is the feedback you give them during the course. Regardless of how the feedback is done the lack of feedback will diminish the students overall perception of the course and content.