11/23/2015
Best Practices for
Online Instructional
Communication
SHYWAND A R. MO O RE
MATHEMATICS D EPARTMENT
SHELTO N STATE CO MMU NITY CO LLEGE
TU SCALO O SA, AL
Introduction
• Introduction to Presentation
• http://www.powtoon.com/m/fLHUXRV00ZA/1/
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Do you remember what you were like as an
undergraduate student?
• For me,
• I went to the library to study
• I had to review the textbook and lecture notes. There were no
websites for us to search for the information or for examples.
• I relied on an instructor’s lectures, facial expressions, body
language, verbal cues, and the interaction of the instructor with the
me and my classmates.
Do you remember what you were like as an
undergraduate student?
But I was a student in 90s. What was going on in the tech in the 90s?
• In Terms of Technology when I went to college / while in College:
• Windows 95 released by Microsoft
• JavaScript was first introduced and deployed
• Ebay was started. People could buy and sell goods online.
• DVD format is announced (not quite affordable or readily available)
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What was the technology like when I began
teaching in 2000?
• The Concerns over Y2K passes without the serious, widespread
computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted
• Microsoft releases Windows 2000.
• AOL and Time Warner Merge
• A destructive computer virus ILOVEYOU spread by e-mail shuts
down computers world wide
My students are different from
students in the 90s and in 2000
• Because of when I was born, I would be considered a member of Generation X. (Born
between 1960 & 1980)
• First-time freshman students would be considered Generation Y and the border
children for Generation Z.
• Generation Y – are a unique generation. They are just old enough to remember the
word “Google” before it was a verb and to know what we used prior to the iPod and
iPhones for music. Because of this they are much more flexible in the ways they
communicate and how they are communicated with.
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About our students
• Our current students were either born in or grew up in the
information age. They have cell phones and tablets
instead of desktops and laptops. Even email is outdated
for this generation. They have Snap Chat accounts,
Periscope accounts, Twitter Accounts, Instagram
Accounts, and Facebook accounts.
• They are learning how to interact with other people
through computer-mediated communication. When
chatting on different messenger apps or through different
social networks, one cannot gauge the same social
contexts or verbal cues that you get face-to-face. In other
words, they have never learned or have forgotten how to
socialize face-to-face and thus have no idea how to deal
with other students or instructors in real world settings.
How does this generation impacts the world
of education?
• More and more, colleges are offering courses in the online
environment. We are meeting this generation where they
are.
• But is this the best course of action? Computer mediated
communication is great when you want to send an
announcement or job information to your employees via
email or text. But can you really establish the necessary
dynamic between student and instructor in an environment
with no verbal or social cues?
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Disclaimer
• Distance Education is not new.
• First known cases of distance education
• 1728 – Caleb Phillips teaches shorthand lessons weekly via the mail.
• 1840s – Isaac Pitman, British, teaches shorthand lessons via the mail.
• 1915 - ”In 1915, following a call by academicians to research the effectiveness of
correspondence education vs. traditional education, the National University Extension
Association (NUEA) was formed (Nasseh). The NUEA set out to establish new national
level guidelines for credit transferal, for acceptance of credit from correspondence
courses, and for quality standards for correspondence educators” (Nasseh, 1997).
• 1930s – some colleges offered courses over public radio
So how do we communicate with this generation
in the online environment?
• Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT), a theory developed by
Joseph Walther, looks at how interpersonal relationships are developed
through computer mediated communication (CMC).
• According to Walther, something said face-to-face takes four times as
long to say in a computer mediated environment.
• This is because you are missing those verbal cues (Shedletsky, n.d.).
• Students will not get it as soon as we think they will. Video Lectures may
not be enough to “pull them through”.
• There has to be more to connect their minds with the material and to
connect them to their online classrooms.
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Communication in the online classroom
• Students will make assumptions through the written messages.
• No matter the mode of communication students will naturally form
impressions. Those impressions are based on their interpretation of
your virtual classroom.
• They may not get your humor or may read more into what is not
written than you intended. So, care has to be taken when
determining what information is given to students in the classroom
and how it is delivered.
So what can we do?
• Give them the face to face feel.
• Broadcast classes live for synchronous learning
• Record in-class lectures for asynchronous learning
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So what can we do?
• Reinforce the belief that you are willing to be open and accessible to
students.
• Be available and try to schedule in-person visits with the class.
• Schedule virtual chats that provide face-to-face interactions instead of chats or
emails
So what can we do?
• Frequent and diverse communication with the students
• Try to replicate the communication in class with your online students
• I use remind app
• https://www.remind.com/
• Give them the bells and whistles
• http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=11831100&height=267&width=200
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So what can we do?
• Consider the tone of your own responses to students
• Remember they don’t really get to hear or see you consistently. A sentenced
typed the wrong way can do more damage than we think.
Let’s talk
• What are your thoughts, ideas, or concerns about communication in
the online environment?
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Questions?
• Any Questions?
• My contact info:
• Shywanda Moore
• Shelton State Community College
• srmoore@sheltonstate.edu
• 205-391-2371
References
• Drewitz, P., & Eaves, M. (n.d.). Social Information Theory and Computer Mediated Communication.
Retrieved from https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/graduateschool/documents/PaulDrewitz.pdf
• Lane, D. (2007). Social Information Processing Theory [Pdf Lecture Slides]. Retrieved from Lecture
Notes Online Web Site: http:// http://comm.uky.edu/cohort/theory/sip.pdf
• Nasseh, Bizhan. (1997 ). A Brief History of Distance Education. Retrieved from
http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html
• Poe, M., & Stassen, M. (2014). Teaching and Learning Online: Communication, Community, and
Assessment. Retrieved from
http://www.umass.edu/oapa/oapa/publications/online_handbooks/Teaching_and_Learning_Onlin
e_Handbook.pdf
• Schroer, W. J. (2008). Generations X,Y, Z and the Others . Retrieved from
http://www.socialmarketing.org/newsletter/features/generation3.htm
• Shedletsky, L. Social Information Processing Theory [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from Lecture
Notes Online Web Site: http://media.usm.maine.edu/~lenny/SIP.ppt
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