<p>I have to agree with you.&nbsp; Tone of voice has a lot to do with the message at hand.&nbsp; As online instructors we do not get that face to face time with our students but there are some things that we can do to help with the communication at hand.&nbsp; In chats, I always allow my students to both see and hear me.&nbsp; I do this on purpose because I feel that a lot of miscommunication happens when you lose the body language.&nbsp; Tone of voice can help set the correct message as well.&nbsp; Chats are great tools because this is the only opportunity we have in which we can allow our students to be heard and seen as well.&nbsp; We can change their status in the chat for this to happen.&nbsp; This is a great tool for tutoring or conferencing.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Afrodite Tsiakopoulos</p>