One of the standards in online education is the "regular effective contact" we need to have with our students. Check out the MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines on this concept.

There are a variety of ways in which to do this. It depends on your personal style. Here are some solid examples of items you may want to use in your course.

Discussion Boards

There are a handful of discussion boards posted in this module. Feel free to check out any of the following DBs.

Cyber Cafe for Students

Final Project Questions

So Professor, I Was Wondering...

Any one of these discussion boards is an effective way to keep in contact with students. You want to be accessible to students in some form or other. I like these discussion boards because they are a running record of your constant contact with students.

Announcements

Consider sending out regular announcements to your class. Send out an announcement when you post materials or on due dates. To spice up your announcements, try using Emojipedia. You can add emojis to your messages so your students think you are cool. ❤️😀 You can also add emojis to your announcements using your keyboard. Check it out in the video below.

Grading

Make sure to post comments on your grading. If you are tired of typing, try adding a voice comment. It still counts as contact with students!

Office Hours

I know we often sit through office hours with no student in sight but office hours are an opportunity to have contact with students. Zoom office hours or being available on the Chat function count as "regular effective contact."

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