Communication Tools Reflection
Jun 23rd, 2009 by Michele Brannon-Hamilton
I enjoyed searching through the various communication tools available to instructors in Moodle because it gave me a good overview of what exists for instructor/student communication. It was interesting to match the tools I liked best with my instructional goals. The challenge was picking the right tools for the right reasons.
Although I like the idea of a wiki to connect students to each other and the instructor, it didn’t seem like the right tool for literacy learners because it invites the sharing of writing which may intimidate some students. Instead, I chose the discussion forum and the chat tools.
I wanted to start with something very basic so the students could connect easily without a lot of technical confusion. I worked in the literacy field for many years and found that students can easily become overwhelmed because of negative school experiences. Instead, I could use the forum to answer questions and help students along the way. Students could connect with others at their own literacy levels which promotes a sense of independence.
I could use the chat tool to personalize my class and connect with students immediately. Literacy classrooms are very learner centred and instructors try to develop a sense of community early on.
As an instructor, I found the forum tool very user friendly. It was easy to set up new discussions and I could see where the date could be set easily. This tool would give me a lot of flexibility while also allowing me to control when discussion topics would close. I think the discussion tool is a great way to keep the lines of communication open throughout the duration of the course.
The chat tool was equally easy to set up and I would use this in the beginning, middle and end of the course to stay connected to my students. The only thing I didn’t like was the time issue. I would have to find a time that suited most of my learners.
I think what surprised me the most was that I hadn’t considered the importance of keeping connected with my students online. In the classroom it was obvious. Recently, I created a writing course for literacy learners and now I want to go back and add in the chat tool and perhaps change my discussions. Overall, setting up these tools was a very enlightening experience that I think will benefit my students in the future.
Please see my communication tools page for more information about the forum and chat tools.
Michele,
Your point about how it is important to connect with your learners online is very true. In a f2f classroom these connections are made very easily and it can often be overlooked in an online classroom. The variety of methods Moodle offers for communication makes the process that usually less visible in a f2f classroom more visible.
Your post has also reminded me on how the importance of communication is in an online setting. Although communication is definitely a lot easier with the affordances of technology, it can also be because it’s too convenient that we don’t engage in it more often. It’s like email. It’s easy to contact everyone within your community with a click of a button but it is so hard to find the time to compose an email and send it off if there is nothing that is too pressing.
(Or it could be me.. I am just not that great with keeping in touch)
Iris 😛
Hi Iris,
Sorry for the really late reply. Ironically, we are discussing communication and I keep forgetting to check for comments. I’m used to going to Vista to discuss everything. Thank you for reading my post. I have learned from your post that I need to make sure my students answer the comments they receive!