Communications    

Options

We offer a wide-range of options for using technology to communicate with your class, as well as information on how to use the technology in teaching. 

Class Mailing List (Lyris)

Every class has a class mailing list created for it automatically. The members of the list are populated each night with the most current enrollment data from the Registrar. Members communicate with each other through email.Faculty can activitate the mailing list, add additional subscribers, and configure the list using a link from their Electronic Portfolio. 

Email and Bulletin Boards within Blackboard

Blackboard has its own internal email and bulletin board systems for handling class communications. Before planning a website for your course, you may want to explore Blackboard as an easy-to-manage, integrated alternative.

About Pedagogy

Below are some links to Web resources dealing with how to incorporate these communication tools into you course activities.

Extending the Classroom Walls Electronically by Tom Creed
- a good discussion comparing different forms of electronic communication (email as a private forum versus bulletin board as a public forum) along with an example from Tom Creed's Psychology course

Effectively Using Electronic Conferencing
- pertains to bulletin boards, such as that of Blackboard; includes a list of "Things to Do" and "Things to Avoid"

Suggestions for Incorporating Asynchronous Communication in Classes
- this document discusses limitations of non-electronic communication, the advantages of electronic communication, the importance of planning to effective use of a bulletin board in your course, and overall costs and challenges of using one.

Eight Ways to Get Students More Engaged in Online Conferences by W.R. Klemm
- self-explanatory!

Encourage Student Discussion
- a teaching guide on how to get students involved in course discussions, from Catalyst, the University of Washington's site devoted to teaching and learning with new technologies.