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How to Communicate with Your Virtual Students

In this year when so many students are receiving their entire class online, communication with students is more important than ever before.  So what are the best ways to communicate with students?

The most important thing to do to have effective two way communication with your students is to create a welcoming culture.  This means starting your meetings with a quick warm-up that brings out something about the students.  You might simply go around the room and say hello to all your students or ask about their favorite holiday food or what they did this past weekend.  Answer the same questions you pose of your students as they want to know you are human too.

  • You should start by creating a short welcome video to explain how students can navigate your learning management system (LMS).   The video (here is how to make one) should be no longer than five minutes and should be followed up with a course orientation that you do in your chat room.   
  • Secondly, you should model good habits for the students by grading and returning most assignments within a week of the due date.  It is wise to send a grade report when the assignments have been completed along with a note with a simple message such as upcoming assignments or even a personal message such as to have a great weekend.  Remember the longer one takes to grade an assignment, the less the students care about it.
  • Set up regular announcements.   Students like structure.  It probably is best to put in upcoming assignments or a reminder a few minutes before class will begin.  All LMS allow for these.  You can suggest to your students that they forward their emails to their smartphones or using a free texting service such as Remind (here is what it does). 
  • Office hours.   If you have a virtual class and can stay after class a few minutes and allow students to ask individual questions and/or have a consistent time when they can come to you.
  • Emails.  Encourage your students to email when they have a concern.  Online teachers have to deal with a significant number of emails but it is essential for your students to know they can get an answer within a few hours.

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