There are a few things Trinh can do to improve her course and reduce the time she spends with communications in her online course. Many have been mentioned already.
- Record Live Lecture and post link in course, so students who missed it can access it at their convenience.
- The Blackboard course can include a Peer Support Discussion Forum so students are able to post/answer questions they may have about the LMS, online lectures, or other issues.
- Trinh should set regular “office hours” so she can be available for students via phone, email, or web conference. She should use that time to responded to any unanswered questions in the discussion board, and her messages in the course.
- The course should clearly indicate Trinh’s office hours and best method to contact her. In order to simplify this for both her and her students, she should stick with limited ways to contact her. I would recommend just using the Blackboard Messaging tool, or email tool only (not both) and ask not to be contacted via Twitter or other social media.
- I think the course design should incorporate “feedback” loops so that Trinh can track area for focus for the students. For example, the course could include self-assessments, or quizzes. She could make a point to regularly ask student if they need help or have questions.
- Again, a well thought out course design and maintenance practise may eliminate many issues. For example, prior to running the course, she could check for broken links, confusing language, or outdated content. This will help to reduce issues while the course is “live”.
- Another way to reduce her time, is to reduce the number of discussion posts she has to go through. The course design could replace some discussions with group project work which can engage students and demonstrate the knowledge they gain.