2 Chapter 1.1 Communicating in a College Course
Part 1: Chapter 1.1
Communication courses will teach students that communication involves two parties—the sender and the receiver of the communicated message. Sometimes, there is more than one sender and often, there is more than one receiver of the message. The main purpose of communication whether it be email, text, tweet, blog, discussion, presentation, written assignment, or speech is always to help the receiver(s) of the message understand the idea that the sender of the message is trying to get across. This section will focus on electronic communication in a college course.
Email or message
An email or message sent to your instructor is often the result of a question you may have. Other students think that their teacher is their own private tutor, so they email or message the teacher several times a day to ask questions that likely have answers in the syllabus and in the learning module instructions. Both of these behaviors are unhelpful and frustrating to the students and the instructor.
It is a good idea to balance these two opposite behaviors. Ask a question if you are unable to find the answer yourself. Your instructor likes hearing from her students and will have a general response time to emails and messages noted in the syllabus. Give your instructor some time to respond to your email and be sure to check your inbox for her reply.
On the other hand, avoid monopolizing your teacher’s email inbox with dozens of emails and messages per week and expecting the teacher to respond immediately. Nobody enjoys having the inbox blown up with multiple messages by the same person. Try to remember your instructor will likely have many other emails from administrators, staff, and of course other students.
Avoid sending emails and messages because when you are panicked, frustrated, or angry. Walk away from your computer and return at a later time when you feel calmer. Then re-read the instructions, or syllabus, or the course materials you find confusing, and if you still cannot find the answer because it is not there, definitely email or message your instructor.
So now that you have decided to email or message your instructor, decide if your instructor prefers a certain type of communication. Some instructors prefer emails from the college-wide email system while others prefer messages that go out from the online course shell itself. Some instructors may prefer phone calls and some may prefer texts.
Netiquette
Keep your message brief, specific, professional, and grammatically correct. Include a greeting such as “Dear Professor Alvarez”, specific details about your question, for example the name and number of the assignment, and a close, such as “Best regards” followed by your name. Include a subject line for your email or message that is not your name or “Hello” but a short description of your question. Some instructors even give you instructions as to how they want emails or messages formatted. For m