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Re-envisioning asynchronous communication.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Facilitating a collaborative community in an online class takes a delicate balance of technology and personal communication. This article explores the use of asynchronous communication tools, including threaded discussions, announcements, and personal emails to create and maintain a high-tech, high-touch online classroom. The resulting course structure both increases student autonomy and enhances instructor efficacy.

Introduction

In fall 2003, I accepted a position that required me to adapt a core professional and technical writing course at the University of Wyoming (UW) to a virtual classroom. As an instructor for the only baccalaureate-degree-granting institution in Wyoming--a large, rural state with significant economic and educational diversity--I was used to serving a broad population with diverse learning styles and needs. Furthermore, I knew that "although the technologies and processes in Web-based instruction provide flexibility for the distance learner, they also can produce specific challenges" (DeTure 21). Nevertheless, I was unprepared for the glut of individual communications and the volume of personal attention my students would require. Since then, I have developed the use of asynchronous communication tools to limit the repetitive, individual communications that overwhelmed me during my early semesters teaching online. Instead of relying on email for mass communication, for example, I now use the course platform's built-in Announcements tool. I also rely heavily on the materials posted on the course website and on students' expertise with online learning in my responses to individual student inquiries. Finally, I continue building infrastructure into my course Home area. I have dubbed the resulting online course, which relies heavily on student-teacher and student-student communication, "high-tech, high-touch."

On the following pages, I discuss the development and application of these techniques. After a brief review of current literature and research into online teaching and learning, I contextualize my discussion by introducing course strategies and objectives. Next, I briefly overview the course platform, and finally, I discuss how I have used asynchronous tools, including threaded discussions, announcements, and email both to facilitate community in the online classroom and to manage my teaching time more efficiently.

Background

In February 2004, the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) issued a position statement identifying numerous best practices for faculty teaching writing and composition in the online environment. According to these guidelines, successful online instruction "encourages contacts between student and faculty, develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, and uses active learning techniques" (Yancey et al., par. 15). Indeed, as Cheng-Chang Pen and Michael Sullivan assert, "communication is always a top priority in an online [teaching] environment" (par. 1). In "College Students' Perceptions of Quality in Distance Education: The Importance of Communication," Madeline Ortiz-Rodriguez et al. affirm this assertion: "Students related quality in communication with the following features: interaction between students...

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