Students need more support in the online course. Feedback should be timely. Making your feedback personal can go a long way toward keeping your students engaged.
I learned that online student do desire the presence of the instructor. Online doesn't equate "on your own". Make students feel a part of the community by sending them personal messages as appropriate.
Instructors must work toward preventing student alienation. Due to the lack of F2F contact in an online course, students may become disengaged, which is why it is important to maintain a good level of S2I contact. It is vital that oneself mantain a sense of professionalism when recieving negative feedback from others in the workplace setting.
I found the idea of being a guide on the side intriguing. I did that in group projects when I taught courses who had them -- seldom stepping into post. I do respond to all students in a discussion, but I spread those replies out, so I'm not totally dominating the conversation. I discussed this advice (not to respond to everyone) with my supervisor and she was more approving of responding to everyone.
It is very important to let online students know that you are paying attention to their progress through the course and that you care about how they are doing.
When communicating with students, it is important to frame the text in a clear and concise manner, checking for content, grammar, punctuation, and no possible misconstrued communication.
Responses must be timely, alliowing for 24-48 hours from submission to reply, depending on business day.
When communicating with students, one must be sure to communicate expectations of the course and how the students are graded. Students need timely feedback in a positive and constructive manner.
Communication is key, with students, admin, and peers!
The instructor should direct and provide guidance but not feel obligated to comment on everything--let the students form their own discussions based upon an instructor provided topic. Keep them on point if the subject strays. Allow the students a certain amount of ownership of their own education.
The three types of communication within an online classroom:
- Student-to-Content (S2C): Students will read, view, and listen to books, articles, videos, and recordings provided as part of the course content.
- Student-to-Instructor (S2I): Students will communicate directly with the instructor and receive feedback from the instructor.
- Student-to-Student (S2S): Students will engage in communication with their peers and even work on activities and assignments in groups.
Allow students to have a dialogue in online forum discussions without replying to every single post. Don't keep inserting yourself into the conversation. Be a "guide on the side." :)
Communication and feedback are very important.
Feedback needs to be timely and consistent to be effective. Instructors need to be aware and maintain this throughout the course.
I learned that the interaction in the course is very important to receive the students comments and interactions.
Feedback is important for all students and should be provided in a timely manner.
Encouragement is also important and should be given to those who are struggling as well as those that are excelling. I tend to focus more on the students that are struggling and tend to forget those that are doing well. They also need a pat on the shoulder! I will try to do this more often.
The module provided good suggestions for communication with students and the importance of timely, frequent feedback.
In this module I reviewed communication ways for an online environment. Proper feedback, timely communication, etc
The frequent and continuous, timely feedback is crucial in the online learning environment
Giving students feedback is essential for them to learn and succeed.
The online learning environment is importnt to the students because they rely on the instructor as a main source to update the course information, and give feedback.
