In Practice: Regular Effective Contact

From the Rubric

• Incomplete: The course design appears to be lacking opportunities for regular effective student contact initiated by the instructor. 

• Aligned: The course design includes regular instructor-initiated contact with students using CMS communication tools.

• Exemplary: The course design includes ample opportunities for regular effective contact using a wide variety of communication tools.

How to Implement

An online course is not a "set it and forget it" crockpot recipe. It's important to regularly reach out to students. There are several ways to do this:

• Send out weekly Canvas announcements

• Contact students using "Message Students Who" from Canvas Grades

• Provide individualized feedback to students in Canvas SpeedGrader

• Provide synchronous office hours support via Zoom

• Use Pronto as a group messaging app to contact students

• Follow-up with students who missed last week's deadline. Send a quick message, such as, "I noticed you missed this week's assignment. Is everything okay?" to all the students who didn't submit. This is a quick way to show students you're present and you care.

• Send out a "Getting to Know You" survey to students to learn about them to better support them.

Additional Resources

• Handout: Hello? Is Anyone There? Strategies for Effective Communication in Your Online Courses by Cara Smulevitz and Kimberly Lacher

• Video: Using "Message Students Who"

• Video: How to Send an Inbox Message to All Students