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Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

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Page 1: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Page 2: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

At the conclusion of this workshop, you will have the outline of an online communication plan for one online or blended course based on:

• Alignment between your course design, your teaching roles and the needs of students in that course

• A timeline based plan for activity within the study period• Selection of strategies to manage online communication• Selection of online communications tools to achieve fit-for-purpose

Aims

Page 3: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Communication in teaching

Communication 1.[mass noun] the imparting or

exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium– (also) the successful conveying

or sharing of ideas and feelings

Oxford Dictionary

Page 4: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

• Teacher-student communication plays a critical role in student satisfaction and learning.

• Online communication takes many forms. • Communicating online is a learned skill.

Page 5: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching
Page 6: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Why worry about online communication?

• Technology adds complexity• Technology introduces social

and psychological distance• Non-verbals are diminished• Richness is reduced

Potential for miscommunication is increased

Different communication skills are required

Page 7: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Planning

Based on:

1. Course delivery and particulars

2. Current communication practices/strategies

3. Course design and activity

Page 8: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Framing up your plan

•Mode of delivery

•Offerings?•Teaching team

•Overview/intentions

Course basics

•Intended outcome approach•One to many

•One to few•One to one•Many to many

Choosing communication

practices

•Convey content

•Support and manage activity

•Learner support

•Other needs?

Link course activity to communication

planning

•Management of communication

•Emergent needs?

Other considerations

Page 9: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Link communication to course activity

Assessment

Group Work

Orientation

End of term drama

What sorts of communication do the course learning activities require?• Learning tasks?• Assessment tasks?• Feedback?• Learner support?

What sorts of communication does teaching the course require?• What (communicative) teaching tasks need to be

performed regularly?• What teaching tasks are performed as one-offs?

Special cases?

Page 10: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Planning checklist

Understand the course •Teaching approach, teaching roles•Mode of delivery•Staffing •Intended learning activity

Identify current communication strategies•One to one•One to some•One to many•Many to many

Link course activity to communication to aid planning•Orientation•Establish expectations re communication•Identify regular (daily, weekly) communicative

activity•Identify special tasks (e.g. Group work, assessment)•Identify preparatory work

Page 11: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

template

Page 12: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Have an online communication plan

Understand how online communication supports your teaching• What role does online communication play in your approach to teaching?• What sorts of communication do the course activities require?• What levels of communication do students require? • What levels of communication do students expect? How can those expectations be

managed?

Be explicit about expectations, and be vigilant about them. • Be clear and explicit about what students can expect from you • Establish protocols for student teacher interaction via email, discussions and other

channels.• Establish expectations for student student interaction, where required.

Create an environment that supports your plan• Make communication purposeful • Structure the environment to support productive communication• Create a safe, welcoming social atmosphere• Practice what you preach : Model your expected communications and be• Manage online communication: insist on behaviour consistent with your

communication plan

Page 13: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Have an online communication plan

Understand how online communication supports your teaching• What role does online communication play in your approach to teaching?• What sorts of communication do the course activities require?• What levels of communication do students require? • What levels of communication do students expect? How can those expectations be

managed?

Be explicit about expectations, and be vigilant about them. • Be clear and explicit about what students can expect from you • Establish protocols for student teacher interaction via email, discussions and other

channels.• Establish expectations for student student interaction, where required.

Create an environment that supports your plan• Make communication purposeful • Structure the environment to support productive communication• Create a safe, welcoming social atmosphere• Practice what you preach : Model your expected communications and be• Manage online communication: insist on behaviour consistent with your

communication plan

Page 14: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

One to one communication

For teaching, this is basically form of one-to-one tuition.

Pros: Messages can be highly personalised and tailored to a particular individual’s context, problem or question. This makes one-to-one messages highly meaningful to recipients and can support the development of interpersonal relations and/or productive social activity (i.e., ‘collaboration)

Cons: Highly labour intensive, particular amongst groups of 10 or more. Must be used strategically and managed to avoid workload blowout. Nuanced one-to-one online communication takes practice.

e.g., individual email, synchronous chat

• Photo by showbizuperstar. Used under creative commons (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/showbizsuperstar/4098637191/

Page 15: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

One-to-some communication

This is communication within or amongst a small group (2-20). Can be used with groups within the group if you divide a large cohort into more manageable groups, like tutorial groups.

Pros: Messages can be tailored to the context or situation common to the group, thereby adding

Cons: Messages may take extra time to compose to achieve contextualisation. In larger groups, this can be time consuming.

Recipient impressions of personalised communication may elicit large numbers of responses. Watch out for the expectation of one-to-one communication following this.

e.g., Group email, group forums, mailing list• Photo by Elvis Kennedy. Used under creative commons

(Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/elviskennedy/6212878673/

Page 16: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

One-to-many communication

One-to-many

This is effectively ‘broadcast’ communication: your message goes out to a large number of people at one time.

Pros: Highly efficient. Many people can be reached with a single message.

Cons: Personalisation is limited. Particular individual needs may not be addressed. Can feel ‘impersonal’, cold, sterile. Confusion may result from lack of contextual cues.

E.g., news forum, whole class email, podcast

• Photo by theparadigmshifter. Used under creative commons (Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/theparadigmshifter/470341923/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Page 17: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Basic communication

Many-to-many

This is complex communication within a group or network or across multiple groups and has simultaneous multi-directional movement of messages. Can be found in teaching situations in which multiple overlapping groups work together. This can include peer teaching.

Pros: Can be powerful and very productive with multiple sites of productive activity and participants taking on multiple roles

Cons: Can be very difficult to set up, initiate and manage. Not as well understood as some of the other communication scenarios.

E.g., twitter, friends networks

Page 18: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

Sender/source• Thinks of message• Puts message into

words• Expresses words

1. Message (verbal and nonverbal)

2. Channel

Receiver• Hears/sees• Gives Attention• Understands/makes

sense of• Accepts message (or

not)

Feedback loop

Page 19: Developing an Online Communication Plan for Online/Blended Teaching

How does communication support your teaching?

• What role does online communication play in your approach to teaching?

• What sorts of communication do the course activities require?

• What levels of communication do students require? • What levels of communication do students expect? How

can those expectations be managed?