eCourse: E-mail Contact
Most of the courses are taught in an asynchronous format so that there are
no traditional class times to meet with students. However, a significant amount
of time will be spent in communicating with students by e-mail and phone if
necessary.
Students have different concepts about the turnaround time in which they expect a response to their e-mails It is important in the beginning of the class to establish your expectations for how quickly you will be responding. Whether you will get back to them in 24 or 48 hours, is not as important as being sure that the faculty and students have the same concept of what is a timely response.
The same care must be taken to design the class in a way that makes the amount of communication from assignments and grading manageable for the faculty. There can be numerous points of contact with the student through e-mail, threaded discussions, written assignments and chat groups. It would be impossible to have all of these points of contacts in every week of the class. The most effective learning experience should be selected for each week to maximize the contact of the faculty and students.