Zane Zimbelman

I find that students who are disruptive, quiet, pushy, or just downright don't participate really need just a little personal attention. I usually send them a quick, terse email on what I think about their participation and what it means to the class. I then ask them to rejoin with a different attitude and end on a positive note about their work thus far. What other techniques have you used?

I have implemented a facebook page for each of our courses where the students can sign in and talk about the class, what they are doing in their free time, and they have back and forth conversations with myself and other classmates. Although I have to remind them that their comments will be screen before they are uploaded, often it creates a solidarity among the students. Are there any other social media sites that can mitigate this type of laid back conversation between students?

In our forums we have a designated time and space for chatting about a topic that I post. This is done in a real time, I.M. style of chatting. Although I often see digressions, it helps us learn about one another and can make it really fun. Has anyone one else had this experience?

I recently taught a blended class, by which I mean half of the class was online and the other half was in-class. I thought this was extremely helpful in student retention because I could check up on them face to face as well as online. I had a huge success rate with this class and I really feel I got to know my students better. Has anyone else taught a class like this with similar experiences, or was it not as successful as a pure online course?