Asynchronous Communication

 

A.  Feedback via Email B.  Feedback via Discussion C.  Feedback via Program Built-in Functions D.  Feedback via Blogging E.  Feedback via Blackboard Online Assessment

A.  Feedback via Email

Email is almost the most common online communication tool used these days.  It is very simple and easy to provide feedback via email. What the instructor and the students need is access to a computer, an email application program, and the Internet connection.  Email includes private messages that are sent one to one, and broadcast messages that the instructor sends to the entire class. 

Here are some ideas for providing feedback via email:

• Providing timely answers to students' questions
• Using private email to ask and answer individual questions
• Using private email for immediate answer or feedback
• Using email broadcasts to correct a serious problem or widespread misconception
• Using email boradcasts for urgent class announcements, such as reminders of approaching tests, imminent deadlines, upcoming events, and schedule changes.

 

Below are some tips for using email in teaching:

 

• Checking the recipent lists. If you are not sending the students the message directly from a course management system such as Blackbaord, always check the To and Cc fields prior to sending any email. Make sure all your students are on the list for the message you want to pass. If you are sending email directly through Blackboard, you should not worry much about this since it only takes you a click to select the entire class as recipients.
• Setting reasonable expectations. Tell your students what will be the turn-around time for responding to email, say 24 to 48 hours.
• Previewing the message in the subject line. Readers can recognize urgent messages and read them in a timely fashion. Encouraging your students to use the course ID in the subject line will also help you identify the message and prioritize in your reply.
• Including previous message in replies. In order to avoid possible miscommunications and save the email storage space, you may want to include only the prior message but not the previous six or eight messages in your reply. 
• Describing the attachment. If you include an attached file in your email mesage, describe the attached files such as the file name and the software application used to create the file.   
• Using formatting to emphasize your ideas. Use the bold, underline and italics features of your email software applications to communicate more effectively with your students. 
• Keeping messages short and to the subject. Remember that no one really wants to read long email messages.

 

B.  Feedback via Discussion Board

 

Commonly used in online learning and hybrid learning, Discussion Board is usually available via a course management system like Blackboard.  Generally, all the instructors at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) have access to Blackboard, and thus Discussion Board can be easily accessed by the enrolled students depending on how an instructor plans the course. Instructors may use it as a social place to share such as Cyber Café, a cognitive space to foster critical thinking and to engage students in active learning, an online help desk to answer students’ questions and problems, and a networking place to expose students to practitioners in the field and build an online community.  Participants in a Discussion Board can choose when to reply to the discussion, so the pace and length of the conversation may be very different.

 

Below are some tips for using Discussion Board:

• Clarifying expectations for participation. It is important to provide guidelines for how often learners should participate in a discussion board and how their participation will be assessed.
• Do not respond to everyone and all postings. As a facilitator of the discussion board, you need to find a balance between quality and quantity. Respond only to the postings that address to you specifically or to which your response will make a valuable contribution to the discussion.
• Using the subject line and requiring your students to do so as well. It is critical to use descriptive words to summarize the posting as the subject line in order to reduce time for reviewing discussion board postings.
• Checking spelling and grammar. Since spelling and grammar are important in most written communications and asynchronous communication allows the time for reflection, it is better to check for errors prior to posting. 
• Using jokes and humor carefully. Ask students to keep cultural and regional differences in mind when using jokes and humor.

 

C.  Feedback via Program Built-in Functions 

 

As a traditional way, instructors often use a pen to comment and provide feedback on students’ written assignments such as a paper. With the help of technologies currently available at FHSU, instructors can use at least three ways providing students feedback on their written assignments: 1) Track Changes, 2) Digital Annotation, and 3) Google Docs and Spreadsheet.

1) Track Changes

Almost all the instructors have access to this tool. Track Changes is a built-in function in Microsoft Word.  For Word 2007, an instructor can use this function simply by clicking on Review on the menu bar and then selecting Tracking(See the figure below).  This functionality can track all the changes made to the document, including insertions, deletions, and formatting changes.  You can also hit Ctrl+Shift+E keys at the same time to make this functionality available.  If you want to add some comments to a specific sentence or a paragraph, simply select the sentence or the paragraph and click New Comment to type your comments in the balloons.

It is easy for students to read the feedback provided by Track Changes, but it might be time-consuming for the instructors, in particular, those who are not fast typists.

 

 

 

2) Digital Annotation

 

If you have a tablet and access to Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007, you can also grade your students’ papers and provide feedback by using the stylus or digital pen. For Word 2007, here is the simple way to make this functionality available (See the figure below):

 

• Click Review button on the menu bar
• Click Start Inking button
• Select the tools such as Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, Format, or Close Ink Tools based on your needs

   

Advantages of this method include ease in use, convenience, and personal touch added to the feedback.  It is very easy and convenient for the instructor to provide feedback to the students. The handwriting also adds a personal touch to the students, in particular, the annotated documents can be sent to students via email or Blackboard.  If you want to know more about digital annotation, you are welcome to attend the two workshops at CTELT: Tablet PCs, and A Free Tool Kit. The annotation tools are also available for PowerPoint and Excel.

 

 

3) Google Docs and Spreadsheet

 

Another tool that can be easily used to provide feedback on students’ written assignments is Google Docs and Spreadsheet that is basically a web-based word processor and spreadsheet application offered by Google.  This tool is easy to use and reliable.  It is good for joint planning, collaborative work, or student collaborative projects.  The users, both the instructor and the students, need to have access to the Internet, a standard browser, and a Google account which is available for free.

 

As a user, you only need to have a Google account to access Google Docs. You can create a new Word or Excel file or simply upload a HTML, plain text (.txt), Microsoft Word or a rich text file (.rtf). You can change the document directly online or download the file and change it offline. All the people who have been given permission can also view or change the document. Each document can be up to 500 KB, plus up to 2 MB per embedded image.  In addition, all the revision history can be viewed.  If you want to know how to provide feedback via Google Docs, you can explore it by either clicking on this link http://docs.google.com  or attending the CTELT workshop: A Free Tool Kit.

 

D.  Feedback via Blogging

 

A blog is a short form of a weblog. It is an easily created, easily updateable website that allows an author or authors to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection. Basically, blogging does not require any knowledge of code or FTP. It takes as much skill as sending an email.

 

One clear advantage of blog over discussion forum is that blogs have greater sense of permanence. Discussion forums are usually not accessible after a particular course has concluded, particularly if the instructor uses a course management system like Blackboard.

 

Blogging has some positive impact on students, including

• Being a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information
• Promoting critical and analytical thinking
• Promoting creative, intuitive, and associational thinking
• Combining solitary reflection and social interaction together  

 

Educators have used blogs in many ways. Some ideas for using blogs in education include

• Usinf blogs as an online filing cabinet
• Using blogs as an e-portfolio
• Using blogs as a collaborative space
• Using blogs as a knowledge management system
• Using blogs as a school website
• Using blogs as a discussion board

 

Blog software has limitations in terms of the levels of security, collaboration, and capability to upload files.  Many blogging sites offer services for free, so users do not have to worry about software installation on a local server and technical support. For a personal blog or small-scale implementation, I would recommend Blogger for its ease of use and cost-effectiveness (Basically, it is FREE).  You can learn to create a blog by following the three steps at https://www.blogger.com/start or asking CTELT staff for help.

 

 

E.  Feedback via Blackboard Online Assessments

 

No matter what type of assessment such as multiple-choice questions and opinion scale questions an instructor plans to give to the students, the teacher can always choose to provide students with feedback in addition to the grade. The Blackboard Test Feedback options determine what kind of results students receive after a test is submitted.  Generally, there are four options for an instructor to select:

 

 

If you want to know more about how to provide students with feedback in the Blackboard online assessment, you are welcome to attend CTELT workshop – Blackboard: Assignments and Assessment or contact CTELT staff for help.