Maintaining Student and Lecturer Relationships within

the Virtual Platform

Rachel ChallenBlended Learning Advisor

University of Wolverhampton

Why communicate online?

• Equality

• Accessibility

• Permanent records

• Flexibility

• Sense of community

Salmons 5 Stage model

http://www.atimod.com/e-moderating/5stage.shtml 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….http://www.flickr.com/photos/10506540@N07/3517227492

Ice BreakersA 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.  * 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.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56087830@N00/353738538

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 )

©2010-2011 ~Eye4Pie http://eye4pie.deviantart.com/art/Computer-Lurker-154685194

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

http://www.atimod.com/e-moderating/5stage.shtml accessed 11th June 2011

Thank you and happy onlining! :o)