Do you think the students are interested in blogging with their instructor?

Should students be required to attend online activities that are a part of the course? Many times, chats are optional but yet they are very beneficial.

If a student posted inappropriate information on social media, would you respond privately explaining the information was inappropriate?

It is essential that student feedback is in the form of encouragement. Yes we need to communicate failure to students if they are not meeting rubric and grading standards but we still want them to be successful. It is important o guide the student to do the work while also maintaining the guide on the side. Robin Jonas

Frustration can grow and change based on the type of learner. Handling communication with each type of learner takes change. IF the facilitator is a baby boomer he or she may not know how to appeal to the young learner. It is essential to communicate the way the course will be handled up front and in the syllabus and then reiterate it throughout the course. Robin Jonas

Many times my students grow tired of posting to the same topics. The threads in my course can become monotonous at times. I find my self reminding students of proper communication and a positive attitude, Establishing good behaviors in communication is essential in netiquette. Does anyone have a problem with improper behavior in their classes? Thank you, Robin Jonas

I find myself using all types of communication to get students to participate in the threads. They often lose themselves after week 4.They fall off the face of the earth I am not a technological savvy person so I have learned to twitter, text, and email with the youngest of them. I find that I must enlist modern and old types of communication in order to appeal to all types of learners in my courses. Robin Jonas

STARTING OFF STRONG Instead of asking a student about his/her previous class experience, some faculty members require a CREATIVE initial post. First issue that comes up: student posts the “normal” intro…hello! Guess what, this student may not READ anything that is posted...ALARMS. On the flip side, the content of the introduction provides an insight into one’s creativity, abilities, and how much energy a student will expend in the class. At what level of Bloom’s taxonomy is s/he functioning? These postings are often quite telling. Other things that can be gained from the postings: grammar, spelling, development of an idea and logical thought, and tendency to COPY other people’s work. It is amazing how many students post an intro that is nearly identical to another. In the past, around 75% of the students who did this would plagiarize the 1st assignment.

DIVERSITY Let me first start by saying that I experience few diversity issues in my classrooms. My extensive exposure and research to international studies at university, along with master and doctoral studies, has enabled a broad and thorough understanding of the educational barriers international students face in American schools, and has provided me the opportunity to apply my knowledge to aid in their assimilation—this, in addition to teaching master classes in Shanghai and Manaus and special US-based classes for Taiwanese and Thai students. Having been an educator in the international community for years, leading countless faculty at numerous institutions of higher learning in South Florida, I can safely say that the biggest challenge international students face in attending American, online schools is the varying degree of dedication and commitment afforded by faculty, and the chaos that ensues when inconsistencies arise. I speak several languages and have lived in a few countries and many multicultural cities…nothing surprises me.

When Failure is Imminent A certain number of students fail classes every session. This is a hard fact. While we do everything in our power to help students succeed in the early weeks of class, some students will arrive at a point of no return where they no longer can pass a class. Our messages now need to shift. Confronting failure is a serious blow to a student’s ego, make no bones about it. How can an instructor mitigate the circumstances and nurture a failing student's willingness to take the class again next session? And feel good about doing it? If you teach a class with a typically high fail rate many repeats and three-peats will share their past experiences with you regarding their failures, while others you discover through TURNITIN when they resubmit her/ her own failing work. A good number of these students can be successful in your class, but it’s often up to you and how you enable their success. A good way to start a dialogue is to ask the student to show you past work along with instructor's comments. This way you have a starting point to help with areas of non-mastery. The sooner you can get a student engaged in proactively learning, the more successful your collaboration.

FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVES: TECHNOLOGY Perhaps the most common student technical impediment is lack of internet access. Depending on the situation, there are a number of solutions. • Free wifi at places like Starbucks (for laptop users) • Free, trial or low cost temporary internet: http://www.free-internet.name/country/United-States/ • Public computers (libraries, community colleges) • Internet cafes or pay by the hour services for students who are travelling Communicate with the student and find out if any of the solutions can work for them. Open up dialogue and work together to overcome. You need to be smarter than the obstacle. Use your critical thinking skills to outsmart technology. Sometimes all it takes is a quick internet search of free service or other in the student's area. You are the highly educated individual in the relationship, use that to your advantage; take the time to be part of the solution NOT part of the problem.

I found the examples in the Communication Code of Conduct will serve as a terrific tool to guide the communication in my online courses. I have some of these tips posted, but the list provided in the lecture is more comprehensive and I would like to borrow it. Every ground class I teach has a section in the syllabus about conduct and respect, and so should an online course with these additions. Thank you for the bulleted list!

Before communicating in an online environment it is important to consider the audience. Some questions to ask before proceeding with the online communication are: 1. Who am I communicating with - generation identification? 2. How comfortable are they with the communication technology? 3. What is the intent of the message?

What I have taken away from module one is to use a variety of communication tools to engage and interact with students. Each communication tool has pros and cons. These need to be evaluated, and then the appropriate tool utilized for the specific need(s) of communicating with the students of my course.

Two components used to help develop a successful online community are evaluating instructional strategies and interaction between the two levels-communication and collaboration. Communication is the basic level of discussion in an online format. Communication can be focused around readings, lectures, and anything students need clarified. Communication can occur synchronously or asynchronously.

In order to communicate effectively the instructor should know the generational category the student is. As it is well documented that each generation has strengths and weakness it is important to isolate which generation you are communicating with so that adaptations can be made.

Managing communication is critical for effective teaching. It benefits both student and instructor. There must be an adherence to a "code of conduct" and standards, in short effective communication in the classroom ensures successful interaction with student and instructor.

The instructor should investigate the different communication tools thoroughly. For example, if the wrong tool is selected this may cause a compromise in communication. Therefore, the communication process may not be complete and the message may not be delivered or understood completely, this would not be a good or effective way to communicate.

I teach Accounting for Managers -an entry level course. The participation expected from this course comes primarily from discussion postings and responding to class mates posting. Students are expected to have their initial posting by Wednesday at 11:59 P.M and respond to two of their classmates posting by Sunday 11:59 P.M. At the start of each week I strongly encourage student to make their posting and responses in a timely manner for them to earn maximum points. Failure to do so will result in loss of points. Discussion posting are not allowed after the Sunday 11:59 P.M deadline. This simple policy helps students take responsibility for the amount of points they want to earn as well as promoting collaboration in the learning process.

Online instructor must be aware at all times that not every student in their classroom communicates in the same manner using similar tools. Lack of understanding this concept will breed frustration and diminish you input to the learning community. Module 3 of the course outlines the various generations along with their communication preference and communication obstacles. (1) The traditionalist (1925-1945) prefer F2F communication in a formal setting. They see challenges using emails, cell phones, texting, social networking sites. (2) Baby boomers (1946-1964) prefer F2F, telephone, email, group meetings, cellphones for talking. They see as obstacles, social networking sites, blogging, texting. (3) Gen X (1965-1978), they want to choose their communication medium and how often they do it -email, cellphone, text, blogging, instant messaging, online forum. They have difficulties with F2F formal communication, Formal letter writing, team discussions. (4) Gen Y (1979-1997) prefers text, online social networking, instant messaging. The have difficulties with F2F communications, telephone conversations and professional or even casual letter writing.