{"id":13960,"date":"2020-03-18T12:04:12","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T12:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/?p=13960"},"modified":"2021-05-17T11:33:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T15:33:45","slug":"communicating-and-engaging-with-your-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2020\/03\/18\/communicating-and-engaging-with-your-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Communicating and Engaging With Your Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #141414;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\">We encourage maximizing asynchronous communication for almost everything.\u00a0 There are many great ways to use Zoom or other sychronous tools for <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\">limited real-time communication.\u00a0 Here are some standard best practices (tried and true from more than 20 years of online teaching) to get you started and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\">hopefully help you manage your and your students\u2019 stress!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #141414;\"><strong>General best practices modified for this situation:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #141414;\">Use <strong>announcements<\/strong> in the LMS to send a message to the entire class.\u00a0 I suggest one per day with reminders and encouragement. Be sure to select the email option so each student will get an email with the announcement that will prompt them to access the course.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #141414;\"><strong>Email your students from within the LMS<\/strong> because they are already enrolled and you won\u2019t miss anyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #141414;\">To save yourself from feeling like you are chained to your laptop and answering a million\u00a0emails, create a <strong>\u201cQuestions\u201d discussion forum<\/strong> and encourage students to post and read\/respond in that forum.\u00a0 Tell them not to email you unless it is personal nature, but all course questions are to be posted in the forum.\u00a0 Encourage them to answer other students\u2019 questions to get the peer to peer collaboration going.\u00a0 If the answer is wrong or not quite right, you can post an encouraging and tactful correction.\u00a0 Check this Questions forum multiple times during the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #141414;\">Also, <strong>set specific \u2018office\u00a0hours\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 If possible schedule these at the same time each day.\u00a0 Post the days &amp; times in an announcement. Use Zoom for these real-time, synchronous sessions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #141414;\">Use Zoom to <strong>hold real-time, one-on-one tutorial sessions<\/strong> with any student who aren&#8217;t able to &#8216;attend&#8217; office hours.\u00a0 Keep these short &#8211; 15 minutes max.\u00a0 When using Zoom, be sure to post the link in your course in the announcements or Questions discussion forum.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We encourage maximizing asynchronous communication for almost everything.\u00a0 There are many great ways to use Zoom or other sychronous tools for limited real-time communication.\u00a0 Here are some standard best practices [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1483,"featured_media":13963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"<p><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-13963\" src=\"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2020\/03\/8iG6grpBT-300x232.jpg\" alt=\"Empty Conversation Bubbles, for decoration online\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" \/><\/p><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We encourage maximizing asynchronous communication for almost everything.\u00a0 There are some great ways to use Blackboard Collaborate (or Zoom) for <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">limited real-time communication.\u00a0 Here are some standard best practices (tried and true from more than 20 years of online teaching) to get you started and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">hopefully help you manage your and your students\u2019 stress!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><strong>General best practices modified for this situation:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><ul><li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Use <strong>announcements<\/strong> in BB to send a message to the entire class.\u00a0 I suggest one per day with reminders and encouragement.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Be sure to select the email option so each student will get an email with the announcement that will prompt them to access the course.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"134233279\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><strong>Email your students from within Bb<\/strong> because they are already enrolled and you won\u2019t miss anyone.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"134233279\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">To save yourself from feeling like you are chained to your laptop and answering a million\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">emails<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, create a <strong>\u201cQuestions\u201d discussion forum<\/strong> and encourage students to post and read\/respond in that forum.\u00a0 Tell them not to email you unless it is personal nature, but all course questions are to be posted in the forum.\u00a0 Encourage them to answer other students\u2019 questions to get the peer to peer collaboration going.\u00a0 If the answer is wrong or not quite right, you can post an encouraging and tactful correction.\u00a0 Check this Questions forum multiple times during the day.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"134233279\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Also<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, set specific \u2018office\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">hours\u2019<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0 If\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">possible<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> schedule these at the same time each day.\u00a0 Post the days & times in an announcement. Use Blackboard Collaborate or Zoom for these real-time, synchronous sessions.<\/span><\/li><li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Use Blackboard Collaborate to hold real-time, one-on-one tutorial sessions with a student who isn't able to 'attend' office hours.\u00a0 Keep these short - 15 minutes max.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0 If you choose to use Zoom, be sure to post the link in your Bb course in the announcements or Questions discussion forum.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"134233279\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span data-ccp-props=\"{\"201341983\":0,\"335559739\":160,\"335559740\":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,577,168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eddev","category-emergency-instruction-plan","category-student-engagement"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2020\/03\/8iG6grpBT.jpg?fit=1500%2C1159&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22015,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2025\/01\/15\/etle-spring-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":13960,"position":0},"title":"ETLE &#8211; Spring 2025","author":"Anabel Livengood","date":"January 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AI&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AI","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/ai\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"QR code to registration form.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/01\/ETLE-2025-reg-SV_9ohl1hG2sh0Hp2e-qrcode.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21131,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2023\/02\/24\/summer-institute-for-teaching-learning-sitl-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":13960,"position":1},"title":"Summer Institute for Teaching &amp; Learning (SITL) 2023","author":"Ian Selig","date":"February 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2023\/02\/Bradshaw.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20405,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2021\/11\/03\/the\/","url_meta":{"origin":13960,"position":2},"title":"The 2021 Last Lecture","author":"Eli Collins-Brown","date":"November 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dr. Candy Noltensmeyer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2021\/11\/noltensmeyer-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24603,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2026\/03\/19\/we-recommend-faculty-lounge-podcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":13960,"position":3},"title":"We Recommend &#8211; 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