A 5-Part Self-Guided Series To Get Everyone Started on the OpenLab
Part 5 of 5: Explore Student-Instructor Communication
In Part 4, we looked at the pages and posts that come with a course site. In this installment, we look at how to use these different types of communication and others to facilitate communication and engagement between instructors and students and among students.
- Instructors can communicate information through pages, posts, and comments. Students can’t write pages, but can write posts and comments.
- Pages are for static information, such as the course syllabus, schedule, grading information, and contact information–the kinds of content students will find in the Course Info section of the course site.
- Posts show up at the top of the home page if you chose the interactive site template. Posts generate a notification via email to all members of the course, and pop your course to the top of the Courses section on the home page and Courses page on the OpenLab. You can assign categories to posts to organize them into category archives–when you add category archives to your menu, it makes it easy to find content, such as all the Class Agendas (posted by the instructor), or all the work for Project 1 (posted by students and the instructor). A category archive for Discussions creates a suggested space for students to hold class dialogue online. A suggested first discussion assignment is included for instructors to ask students to introduce themselves to each other and respond to each other’s introductions.
- Comments can generate dialogue within a site. Depending on the settings you choose, anyone can write a comment (we strongly encourage you to keep the default that requires that the instructor approve the first comment from anyone). Comments can be made on a page or post. Comments can be threaded, creating the opportunity for more discussion among students and the instructor. They can also include links and images. Assignments can be designed to take advantage of the openness of comments–whether by asking students to comment on a post before they even have OpenLab accounts, or by inviting students to comment on work on other sites throughout the OpenLab. Since instructors can make comments private, comments can also be useful for feedback and grades, using a plugin called WP Grade Comments to respond to student work. In the last few semesters, updates to the OpenLab have added tools that allow commenters to include media and links in their comments.
- Professors can share surveys as posts on the home page to gather information about students in the course, or even to collect student work. These surveys are powered by a plugin called Gravity Forms.
Now that you know more about the tools available to bring students into conversation with you, your course materials, and each other, you can plan activities and assignments that take advantage of these features. Remember that you can work on using these tools when you come to an OpenLab workshop–on Monday, 8/26 or in the Fall 2024 semester–or visit a one-on-one open hour, or work with us at a co-working session–including one on Thursday, 8/29. You can also reach out for email support by sending a message to us at OpenLab@CityTech.cuny.edu or via our contact form or use Help materials and screencasts to guide your work.
Happy final course preparation!
Photo Credit: “Finish/Start” by Anne via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
