E-Mail for class communications

Why e-mail?

First question to ask: what are your goals? This helps choose a technology:

Some concrete suggestions

General

• give students early guidance on getting started (where to find computers on campus, library workshops on e-mail, available documentation, etc.)
• point to CC documentation and tech support for help with technical issues
• justify technology to students on both pedagogical and economic grounds ("learning to use e-mail will make you more employable after graduation")
• temper your expectations for amount of student access -- reading e-mail once or twice a week works well for most students
• monitor technical problems. If gladstone is down for 3 days, no student will be able to read e-mail. But many will overgeneralize and assume that this technology failure is their fault or will forever after keep them from using the system
• set up instructor's e-mail to protect instructor's time (maybe have a separate account for class-related e-mail, or use mail filtering software such as procmail)
• don't assume that what works in a class of 50 will work in a class of 150
• do what works for YOU given your unique pedagogical style
• ... but don't expect a new technology to work perfectly the first time you try it

Using e-mail for homework submission

• don't assume students can send attachments/files by e-mail
• send receipt messages and tell students they must save them to document submission

Using a class listserv

• an email discussion group can encourage participation from shy students and thoughtful well-developed ideas that wouldn't appear in verbal discussion. But be prepared for flaming, off-task postings, risky self-disclosures, attacks on professor
• establish a majordomo-based listserv for your course, and require that students subscribe by a particular date early in quarter
• have escape clauses for students with directory information restriction
• make active participation (a small) part of the grade. E.g. require 2 thoughtful content-full postings early in quarter. Or treat posting as extra credit.
• maximum participation limits (# of messages and # of lines)
• give clear guidelines on netiquette and goals of listserv.
• give informal e-mail assignments (e.g. "discuss XXX")
• monitor group discussion and intervene (only?) to retard flames or correct errors. Optimal amount of instructor presence varies greatly depending on class topic, size, students, goals, but too much presence seems more common than too little.
• integrate listserv with class. For example, sometimes an in-class response to list postings is most effective.

Once you have a list, you'll need to maintain it. Depending on the list, that can be easy or a real chore. Problems range from pedagogical ("how do I handle a student who flames the instructor on the list?") to mechanical ("how do I cope with 'bounce' messages from the Computing Center when a student in my class runs out of disk space and can't receive e-mail?").

Some Resources

General discussion of e-mail and pedagogical issues

• Enriching Discussions with Technology (TEP)

Resources for mailing list managers:

• How to set up a listserv (from FCN news)
• Mailing Lists at the UO (UO Computing Center)
• Basic commands for list managers
• Majordomo list application form
• Majordomo list deletion form
• Moderators Home Page: Resources for Moderators and Facilitators of Online Discussion

If your students need help using e-mail and mailing lists, some useful resources to point them to include:

• How to Get a Computing Account (UO Computing Center)
• Basic UNIX Commands (UO Computing Center)
• Using Pine for E-Mail (UO Computing Center)
• Mailing Lists at the UO (UO Computing Center)
• majordomo command helpfile
• Computing Labs on Campus (UO Computing Center)
• Get Ready online tutorial (UO Library)

Return to Educational Technology at UO

Last update: by JQ Johnson
URL:http://