ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.

com/

Communicating in the LMS

Regardless of the LMS platform one uses at ones teaching institution, i.e. Moodle or Blackboard, communication is indeed an essential component of teaching and learning. In spite of its importance, communication can be challenging in an online or blended learning environment. Among the challenges instructors can face, technical difficulties and cultural differences may affect learners and teachers affective filters [levels of frustration and anxiety] are bound to appear. To palliate communication breakdowns and to enforce instructors social-teaching presence in their online courses, certain LMS tools can be used: Announcements, discussion boards, and email. Let us analyze three LMS tools that can help instructors to ensure good quality in communication with their students: Tool Announcements
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Description
This particular tool allows teachers to provide timely information along with deadlines to be met. It can be used to display course or institutional information for both

Challenge
a) To have students carefully read the information posted to keep current with the organization, their school, and their courses. b) To motivate to log in regularly to keep track of

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

instructors and learners. It can also be used as a way to remind students of course content, assignments, and the like.

deadlines, homework, and assignments. c) To properly deal with technical issues beyond the teachers realm of action.1 a) Student motivation to log in for class discussion is always a challenge. b) The need for exploiting student intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation is a must within the discussion board. c) Accessibility can also be an issue for a minute number of students in ones course. Some may have some restriction to use an Internet connection out of the university campus. d) LMS first-time users may need some sort of crash course to get the knack of how to use it appropriately. e) Teacher modeling could be necessary to guide students

Discussion Board - It is a tool that allows

learners and instructors to share information, thoughts, insights, criticism, and the like. It allows users to create asynchronous discussions / forums through a link displayed on an individual week or learning module. Instructors can assign each forum a specific topic or theme for students to reflect, share, and help one another to comprehend the course content. Several threads of discussion can be created depending on the users interests and needs for

As a matter of exemplification, I had a student enrolled in my class, whose name was visible on the class roster but who wasnt able to log in for course activity [forum, homework submission, wikis, etc.]. This sort of problem goes beyond the teachers realm of action, and it is TI Department the one that needs to provide an immediate solution for the student and the instructor.

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

the sake of the community of learning. The instructor or a designated student can function as moderators and lead the discussion.

who may find themselves helpless while working within the LMS.2

Email

Emailing students within the schools LMS allows instructors to communicate with pupils without having to access external email servers.

a) We have often found some sort of reticence among students to use the email provided by the university, and this can cause a severe communication breakdown since they do not check university email accounts. b) Prompting them to constantly check their university emails is indeed a challenge at our university.

Depending on the features ones LMS has, private or group messages can be sent.

This system is quite useful especially when the teacher does not hold virtual student hours.

Prof. Jonathan Acua, Universidad Latina, Costa Rica (2013)

If tools have been also provided to achieve a great sense of community in learning, it is the instructors task to use them to guarantee quality in learning. However, let us also keep in mind that teachers are handcuffed if learners do not do what it is expected from them to ensure their own
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As part of my former training at the University of Oregons Distant Education program for ELT professional out of the US, Dr. Deborah Healey always stressed the importance of modeling and helping learners understand how a new tool, system, or platform is used. Krashens affective filter can be highly affected in the case of students in ones F2F or Virtual classroom.

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

building of knowledge. Setting expectations from the very beginning, and reminding them of their compromise with themselves and their learning, is also necessary, and instructors must help on this issue.

To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, its advisable to research and expand these areas: 1 2 3 4 5 Delivering announcements within an LMS Challenging students to keep current with announcements Effective board discussion within an LMS Forum first-time users: How to help them Emailing students as part of an LMS platform Professor Jonathan Acua-Solano ELT Instructor & Trainer based in Costa Rica NCTE - Costa Rica Affiliate Resource Teacher at CCCN Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America For further comments or suggestions, reach me at: @jonacuso Twitter jonacuso@gmail.com Gmail

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at the university are: 1. Pronunciation 1 3. Pronunciation 2 2. Readding Skills 1 4. Computering Applications in Education

Get new ELT material and ideas by visiting my curated topics on http://paper.li/ and http://scoop.it/
TEFL Daily ELT Daily English Language Teaching Journal Phonemics Daily

The Linguists: Linguistics News

Published on September 26, 2013

Efficiency Training Whats an LMS? (07/02/2013) Oriole TV Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5kkSN1KXY