First Day Announcements
Hi
I have been teaching online for 11 years. Over that time period I have developed a series of postings that I place on the classroom announcement board. I include welcome, class expectations, lateness/assignment extension policy, late penalties for assignments, academic integrity policy, and my office hours.
Can anyone think of other announcements that would be appropriate for the first day of class?
Bill Becker
Bill,
Class expectations could certainly include a lot of sub-items. This list of announcements will be specific to your course and your experience. I would bet that after 11 years, you have refined that list each semester as "issues" have arisen with students that misunderstood an expectations. I regularly find that I have to refine my list to include much more detail that a traditional class. Items such as communication expectations, clear policies on assignments and work formats, group work expectations, forum post details, professional communications with students and faculty. It seems the list and detail gets greater every semester.
Herbert Brown III
Some of the other items that I post on my announcement board are info on the labs. If they do not know powerpoint and if that format type is part of the assignment in the future, I encourage them to start early on so they can have a couple weeks under their belt. Also, I provude some relevant links to news article based on the topic for that week.
I agree Bill. Every time I teach a course I find "just one more thing" that should be added as a reminder. However, after many terms of instructing a class it is important to edit the announcements or they can be overwhelming to the student, especially in a first term class.
Even after over 6 years of teaching the same course for one of the schools I teach for, I find that I am back to where I began sharing several general items on the first day one of which is a reminder to check the "Important Classroom Tip" thread on a regular basis.
Karen "kam" Maiorano
LaBoore,
Do you use other resources, such as youtube or others, for those that might have deficiencies (as you note don't know powerpoint) in their skills or preparation? Or maybe provide a list of web resources that support and enhanace the learning opportunities for the students?
Herbert Brown III
Karen,
Is the "important classroom tip" thread a help forum for the students or is it more like a FAQ page? Breaking the expectations down in to smaller pieces could certainly relieve some of the anxiety of students new to online learning.
Herbert Brown III
Herbert, actually I do provide links to websites which may enhance the learning module for that subject. From day one, I encourage students to tap into the learning labs which may address some of their basic questions about topics which range from excel to APA.
LaBoore,
Great. There are many resources on the Internet that can enhance the learning process and don't require instructors to re-invent the wheel.
Herbert Brown III
In addition to the information that you suggest, I review what my specific expectations are in assignments and my philosphy on grading. In addtion to office hours, I provide a chat schedule and the grading rubrics for the week's assignments.
My goal is to let the student know how I will behave through out the course and what my expectations of them are.
Thanks, Nina Miville
