Reducing Email in an Online Course

Instructors receive a lot of email when conducting an online course, however, there are ways to reduce the amount of email you receive. One of the most efficient strategies is to set up a discussion boards that focus on general questions about the course, questions about Blackboard Vista or Moodle (or another course management system being used), or questions related to a particular assignment. The discussion board becomes a place where students can post questions with a particular focus. The instructor may want to include a statement for students that they should not post questions about grades or anything that is private and confidential as the discussion board is open and can be read by everyone in the class.

The instructor will need to monitor the discussion board but in some cases students will respond to each other and answer questions such as where do I find??.

It is also helpful in a fully online course to have a social space where students can introduce themselves to their classmates and develop a learning community. You can creatively name the social discussion board in a way that corresponds to your course. For example, a business course might have a social discussion board called the ?Board Room? or an art history course might name the social discussion board the ?Studio?.

Cleo Magnuson
Instructional Designer
NCSU-DELTA