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Use Google Educational Apps to Foster Online Collaborations

October 20, 2016
Description In the 21st century modern education is becoming increasingly complex due to the technological environment within which it operates. This new environment offers exciting new possibilities but also raises challenges. Low cost, ubiquity, accessibility and ease of use are all potential affordances, which are making social media technologies an attractive option for transforming teaching…

Use Three-Before-Me as a Communication Strategy in a Large Class

April 13, 2015
Description The concept of “Three Before Me” pushes the responsibility of locating an answer to commonly asked questions to the student. The student must prove to the professor that he/she has contacted three different sources prior to contacting the professor. Link to example artifact(s) If you have questions regarding the material, assignments, technical issues, and/or…

Send Students an Introductory Email Message Before the Course Begins

April 9, 2015
Description Many faculty members begin their online courses by contacting students in advance of the course start date or during the first week of classes with an introductory email message (Bellafiore, 2007; Gibson & Blackwell, 2005; Mensch  & Ali, 2007). The purpose of this communication is to welcome the students, establish a comfortable class environment,…

Email Messages with a “Hook” that Prompts Logging In

April 6, 2015
An email message with a “hook” employs a concise, narrative-driven scenario to motivate students to log into an online course. These email messages have a provocative subject heading that summarizes a specific real life situation where learners would need to apply the content covered in that installment of the online course. When the learner opens…

Keep Students Engaged/Successful with Intervention Messages

April 6, 2015
Description Intervening with Students It is important to contact students when their observed behaviors within the course indicate cause for concern (e.g., disengaged or at-risk of not succeeding). In addition to the obvious behavior of not submitting assignments, checking the Learning Management System’s (LMS) “Student Tracking” tool frequently (sorting by last access) allows the instructor…