Maintaining Student and Lecturer Relationships within the Virtual Platform Rachel Challen Blended Learning Advisor University of Wolverhampton

Why communicate online? Equality Accessibility Permanent records Flexibility Sense of community

Salmons 5 Stage model accessed 11th June 2011

Strategies to underpin Salmons 5 Stages Expectations Ice Breakers Netiquette Communication Lurkers Inclusive Activities

Expectations Setting the ground rules How often will you be online? How quickly will you respond? How much time are you expecting the student to commit to? What length of written response to activities is required? The exit strategy….

Ice Breakers A structured welcome… The first activity is to help you get to know the people in your group. Read the instructions below on what you should put into your blog post and then click here to go to the blog.click here * remember that everyone in your group will be able to read your blog posts so write appropriately 1a] Upload a photo to the blog (a link to a help sheet and video on how to do this is here). The photo can be of you, which would be a good way of being able to put faces to names. It doesn’t have to be you; it can be a picture that represents you. With whichever kind of image you upload could you add the following: If you have uploaded a picture not of you, how does it represent you? Share an interesting fact about you or something you have done 1b] Once you have made your post, put a comment on the posts others in the group have made to say hello (a link to a help sheet and video on how to do this is here) The tutor’s role in this time is to welcome, encourage, respond quickly, and acknowledge the things students do

Netiquette (etiquette on the net)

Communication Asynchronous? With asynchronous communication tools, you browse, read, understand and respond at your own pace to what others have already sent or posted. Synchronous? Chat sessions and instant messaging can have a lively, immediate feel, and actually may feel casual or conversational in tone.

Benefits of synchronous communication Immediacy of answers / feedback Spontaneity ‘Real’ responses Put faces to names

Benefits of asynchronous communication “It can sometimes be that in a F2F discussions time only allows for a certain number of students to contribute. Whereas an online discussion allows for all students to contribute as the time factor to respond is considerably expanded… …this extended time for reflection can encourage engagement at the point at which inspiration may occur. We have all had the ‘I wish I’d said that’ after the F2F moment has passed. Studying online also can equip students with transferable IT and web skills that they can use in other areas of life.” Anon, Online course participant, Oxford Brookes

Barriers of online communication “From a tutor perspective the transition from F2F tutor to online tutor can be difficult. Adapting a skill set of giving F2F feedback with all the advantages of physical clues lost online, adapting the language of feedback to convey emotion can be difficult.” Anon, Online course participant, Oxford Brookes The flexibility of online communication: ‘Everything I wanted to say has been said’ A record of the discussions can also be saved: useful for both student and tutor (permanence?) Writing on line Equipment that is needed

Lurkers Encouraging the whole group… Nurturing the less confident Monitoring Unpicking Motivation (read-only participators ) © ~Eye4Pie

Designing Inclusive Activities Getting everyone on board Structured Task based – organised and regularly introduced Provide socialisation opportunities Small group work Always have a plan b in case of technical difficulty

Salmons 5 Stage model accessed 11th June 2011

Thank you and happy onlining! :o)