What is the preferred method of communication in a online course
Hello to all,
This post stems from a reply to a fellow participant posting in regards to email versus instant messaging. What I am finding is that the use of email versus instant messaging varies with each institution. In particular, at my current setting, I extended the over to contact me via instant messaging; however my students preferred method of communications remains in the form of emails. What is your preference? What have you experienced in your classes and/or what trends have you noticed?
Thank you,
Zakevia
Dr. Zakevia,
I do find it differs from instructor to instructor and class to class. Some instructors use Remind 101 to text all students with one message. How wonderful that is. Some instructor are asking their students what they prefer and using that communication tool. It may be Facebook, texting, email or the discussion board. Thanks for your questions.
It is interesting to think of instant messaging versus email. Do you feel that the time factor can make a difference? Especially with younger students who might be most awake late at night? Does it also matter with differing time zones? Do you set specific office hours when you are available for instant messaging?
Sharon
Sharon,
I set specific office hours when I'm available and checking email and Blackboard. I find Remind 101 to be a great apps to send one message which is texted to all students. That is helpful.
I believe the preferred method of communicating is email. Even though there are other methods that are available, I believe students would find it convenient to communicate to the instructor through emails. Some of the other tools have limited characters that can be used that may prevent the entire message to be sent.Using email is a tool that just makes communication much easier.
Michael Fanniel
Michael,
We all use email a lot when teaching an online course. However, I have about 225 students in my class so our main communication method is the Frequently Asked Questions Discussion Board. It works for us and helps eliminate email overload with these large classes. Thanks!
