Tech tools for online teaching
I have found that the various tech tools are so valuable for communicating. I also teach F2F, and still rely on the tools. So, not only do online classes use them, but so do the F2F and hybrid courses. I find communicating through email is valuable for more personal reasons. Quite often I have student that don't understand the concept that there are things you do not post on the discussion boards. My welcoming intro goes over what the various tech tools are used for during the class. This saves a lot of time later. At the moment, I have an online class that is using the discussion board for personal comments! So, my explanations don't always work!
Darlene,
There are so many tools that we have to keep examining them to find what works for us and our students.
Darlene,
Definitely communication through email is very valuable. However, there are times that email does not work the way one would like it to work. For example, I teach accounting and finance courses and I find sometimes very difficult to explain a problem to my students via email. Also, my students find it very difficult to understand my explanation. Result: we either communicate via phone or Webinars because I can explain better, ask questions or realize when students say they understand when in fact they are not understanding anything.
