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=Course documentation describes the types of responses teaching staff will provide via different communication channels. =

Evidence
In proposing a taxonomy of faculty responses for online discussion environments Blignault and Trollip (2003 p. 157) set out six categories: Administrative (no academic content); affective (no academic content); other (no academic content); corrective (with academic content); informative (with academic content); Socratic (with academic content)

Students should be given a clear explanation as to why the channels or modes have been included within the course and how they will assist in achieving the learning objectives of the course. Students are more likely to take a deep approach to learning if they are intrinsically motivated. To be intrinsically motivated they need to see the relevance and importance of what they are being required to do. (Rust 2002, p. 150). Therefore, clear linkage of communication channels to wider course, programme and institutional objectives is necessary. If asynchronous discussion in an online forum is supposed to enhance students’ critical analysis and analytic thought skills, then students need to be told that this is its purpose.

An example of how students’ work through familiarizing themselves with interactive technology is given by Salmon (2000), who highlights the importance of interactivity, proposing a model of online teaching and learning, which characterises interactivity over five steps of learning. At stage one, access and motivation, interaction is minimal and focused on the learner resolving technical and operational issues and the teacher welcoming and encouraging the learner. Stage two, online socialisation, sees the sending and receiving of messages contribute to learners’ familiarisation with the technical, cultural, and social environments. Stage three, information exchange, involves increased interaction with both people and course content, and in ‘searching [and] personalizing software [for] facilitating tasks and supporting use of learning materials’ (p. 26). Stage four, knowledge construction, is intensively interactive and engages teacher and learners in conferencing for facilitating collaborative learning processes. At stage five, development, interaction decreases as learners attend more to ‘individual learning responsibilities, using links beyond closed conferences, and teaching/learning interaction focuses on supporting and responding activities (p. 26). Salmon observes that although the online environment, with its lack of visual cues, is ‘new and potentially alien…for many participants’, others find that it provides freedom, for expression, and from distractions (p. 28).

Resources
Waterhouse & Rogers (2004) give a sample email response policy.

Guidelines for communicating with students can be found online, e.g. http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/comm.htm