Documenting Outreach
As online instructors we may spend some time reaching out to students by email and/or phone. What are your strategies to make sure you are capturing this time for the school and for your own accounting purposes?
The first thing I do is write an email expressing my concern for a missing assignment or discussion. I ask the student to contact me. If the student does not contact me, I will follow this up with a phone call. I will also email a copy of the correspondence to the student's advisor. This seems to work.
To document my outreach to the students I use the following methods: 1. Send a follow up email to the student after I conduct a phone call. The email will include the items discussed such as helpful hints, tutoring and suggested ways to improve their performance and/or participation. 2. Send email reminders when assignments are due. 3. After holding a live webinar, I send the students a follow up email with the highlights of the webinar.
Dr. Anastasia,
Thank you for sharing these student follow up strategies. The key is ongoing communication with the students so they don't feel overlooked or forgotten which as you know is easy to do in an online environment.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Rosalind,
Great strategies. Thanks for sharing them with us. I know they will be of help to other instructors, especially those just starting their teaching careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is very important to document all communication with students because it keeps a record of it. It also gives the instructor an insight on how to better serve the student. I typically create a spreadsheet that outlines all communication which each student. I have found this to be the most helpful.
Lakithia,
Great reminder for us all because without documentation a situation can quickly arise that becomes my word against a students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Are the emails themselves your documentation, or are you keeping a record of them somewhere else?
Thanks
As an instructor I too also make sure that I contact any students who have missed any of the assignments via email. I also will then list all the assignments that are due each week and when they are. If I don't hear back from the student I will also get their OA involoved to help with getting the student involoved. I like the email because it sends me a copy of the email that I have sent reaching out to the student to express a concern and to see if they need any help from me.
Carolyn,
This is a simple but highly effective way to maintain contact with students. Also, you have documentation if needed and based upon students complaints today it is even more important to have.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I know for my school/course the email itself (if sent from my campus email system to the student's school address) serves as documentation that the school can access at a later date if problems arise. But I do also keep a record of who I have emailed and whether I have needed to also contact their campus.
Cindi,
Documentation is important for instructors. You can never have too much because you never know how you will need to use it.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Carolyn I do a similar thing - I call those emails my "Friendly Reminders" and I cc: the student's adviser on them and also list the missing assignments.
Dennis
