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Below are a set of strategies that I've learned through trial and error (mostly) for managing communications in an online course.  Determining the use of synchronous (e.g., chat, two-way audio, interactive video conferencing) and asynchronous (e.g., email, discussion boards, blogs) communications can be tricky.  Figuring out how best to use these tools and when to use these tools is an incredibly important task for making your course effective online. 

Setting Student Expectations and Levels of Access

I have found that students in online courses can start to have an unreal expectation of my availability as a teacher and mentor.  So, in order to create a buffer zone and set a realistic expectation for communications with me, I have some guidelines that I provide to students.

1. First, you should pose a question about assignments or due dates to a teammate or classmate either through email or discussion board.
2. Second, if you are having problems with our course management system, such as not being able to log in, call XXX-XXX-XXXX, or complete the help form at XXX.HelpRequest.html.
3. Third, when you email the instructor, you should expect an answer within 24 to 48 hours, excluding weekends. If you do not receive a response within 48 hours, then inquire again. It could have slipped through. Most responses will be sent to the class as a whole to answer other students' questions as well. Private concerns, including grades, will, of course, be handled discretely.  To help me manage my email and, thereby, more effectively assist you, please always include the following in your email messages: Make sure that you include your name, the course call number, and the class section in all messages.  (This is part of the introductory email I send to students, too.)

A couple of other points to made here as well:

1. When I receive an email from a students, such as one that tell me that a link in our course is dead, I often send a reply back to the whole class.  This helps prevent multiple emails from telling me the same information and clogging my in box.  In addition, I also archive this message inside our course, such as in the archive discussion board or on the "news" section of our homepage (see image below).

   

    

2. I also had a colleage, Dr. Lloyd Rieber at the University of Georgia, tell me that he tells his students specifically that he will be checking his emails at 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.  Any emails received after those times will be responded to at the next check.  He has found that this also helps provide realistic expectations for his students and his access.
3. I have two other discussion forums open in our course.  First is an "I have a question..." area (see the image below).  If students have questions, particularly about a deadline, about requirements, or about a problem with a resource, then they can ask the question here.  Other students are encouraged to respond to these questions.  I alway check the answers.  This works well to varying degrees.  In some courses, this has tremendously reduced the number of emails I received.  In other courses, it was used minimally.

   

    

   Second is a humor discussion forum, where I and other students can upload or add comics or quotes to bring some humor to our course.

   

    

Strategies for Meaningful Online Discussions

1. Use guiding questions.  Write discussion questions that require thoughtful, reflective responses.  Write questions that enable students to use both their experiences and their new knowledge from their readings.
2. When I require students to post to discussions (particularly when discussions as the primary means for interactivity in a course), then I provide students with guidelines on how to write quality discussion postings.  Here's what I tell them:
1. Email should be checked regularly.
2. During discussion weeks, discussion boards should be checked each day.
3. All contributions should not occur on the last day of the discussion. This is a graduate class, and as an online learner, you are expected to participate fully.
4. Minimum contributions for discussion boards include 3 quality postings during the week.
5. Quality discussions include:
• Thoughtful responses to guiding questions.
• Reading others' responses before adding your own.
• Avoiding repeating others' responses.
• Personal experiences that are supported with facts, theories or statistics from readings.
• Personal experiences that contrast or disagree with positions stated in readings.
• Using additional information from further research that extends required readings.
• Augmenting our course readings with those from other courses.
• Being respectful of other students with netiquette. See http://distanceeducation.dal.ca/student/4_netiquette.html
• Using correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, proper English and avoiding abbreviations.
6. Quality postings do not include:
• "Right!"
• "I agree."
• "Good ideas."
• "That's not true."
• One line responses.
3. Consider using 3-7 different questions for each discussion topic.  I know this sounds like a lot; however, some topics will resonate with some students, and others will not.  Below is an example of where I had 4-6 discussion questions for a topic that lasted 2 weeks. Consider some questions that may ask students to practice a task.  Consider some questions that may ask students to contribute a resource they have found particularly useful.  Consider asking students to read a short blog entry or news post and respond.  Consider asking students to rate or evaluate different tools or techniques they may have tried previously.  Avoid questions with a single correct answer.

   

    

4. Push for a deeper discussion.  I have found that when I require students to post, they interpret that as they need to respond to my question in order to "get their points."  Unfortunately, this leads to a very flat, disconnected, and "inch deep" discussion.  Instead, I'd rather have the "mile deep" discussion.  So, I encourage students to respond to one another, too.  Here's what I tell them:

   

    

5. Use groups to manage discussions.  When I use groups in a course for management, I also use these groups to help with discussions.  Sometimes, I ask groups 1 and 2 to respond to my question.  Then I ask groups 3 and 4 to respond to groups 1 and 2.  This is another technique that encourages deeper discussions.
6. Remember what it means to be a student.  If given a choice, I have found that the overwhelming majority of students will wait until the weekend to work on my course, which includes responding to the discussions.  Unfortunately, you cannot have a meaningful discussion that lasts 2 days.  Because discussions are asynchronous, the time shift and delay make time a necessary component in having a meaningful discussion.  So, you must encourage students to read early and post throughout the week in order for the discussion to be worthwhile.  I have found two techniques to be useful in encouraging students to participate in the discussions. 
1. First, I have required students to complete a knowledge-based quiz early in the week, then proceeded with the discussion.  I have also in smaller courses had students write 50-word summaries of the readings, then proceeded with the discussion.
2. Second, I have organized the topics into two-week intervals.  In the first week, the readings and a project or quiz were due.  Then in the second week, we held the discussions and another project was due.
7. Discussions are not the only asynchronous communications that you can use.  There are a number of other techniques for communications that can be used in concert with discussions.
1. There are a number of email games that can be played. I have played the C3PO game with students and it has worked well.  It's face paced, takes work on your part, and keeps the students interested.
2. You may also incorporate blogs into your course.  These can be a substitute for discussion boards, but they can be used pretty similarly.  I have found this to work well when I want to collaborate with another school or if I want to bring in an expert or experts to my course.  It can sometimes be challenging and logistically discouraging to try and integrate external experts into a school's course management system.