Can students get a course GPS app?

The syllabus and teacher availability:

Schedules and reminders:

This week’s reading was crucial for designing an online or even hybrid course. It is always easy to tell what one should do, but much harder to tell how it should be done. Rachèle Démeo and Pilar Hernandez both showed us some pieces of the online puzzle. I had struggled with aligning a picture with text, and now, thanks to Pilar, I know that creating a table is the way to resolve this problem.

In addition to the course organization and making the syllabus interactive, it is really important to remind students of due dates. Ko and Rossen discuss this issue as well in chapter 5. I agree that too much text or images can overwhelm students, but it is crucial to send at least one reminder a few days before an assignment or test is due. Students are usually taking more than one course, and they can get lost among all the due dates. My homework due dates are always either on Saturdays or Fridays. My students all know this information because I have reminded them a few times. However, some still ask me or forget. They have now asked me to send them an email reminder 2 days before the due date. Experience has thus taught me that sending or posting reminders for due dates is crucial.

Teacher availability:

How often should I be available to my students? Should I set time slots for responding to students’ inquiries? Experience has taught me that it is essential to respond to all of students’ questions as promptly as possible. Students tend to get discouraged very easily and they are seeking someone to help them or guide them, so it is important to be there when they run into trouble. When students do not have the opportunity to interact with the instructor in the classroom, they may get discouraged or shy away from the class even more easily. Ideally, I do my best to answer students’ questions and concerns within 24 hours, but I think that 48 hours is acceptable as well.

I think that the instructor should make himself/herself available via Skype at different times during the week and for a 2 hour time slot each time. This will give students the opportunity to check and talk with the instructor if they prefer to communicate in this way.

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