News Items

I post a News Item (formerly called an Announcemt) at least one a week, on average. This activity is particularly frequent at the start of the semester when I have to restrain myself from posting 3 or 4 times every day. This is one of the most important things I do and I work hard to craft my Announcements. I want them to be clear and helpful. I know I will get many emails if my instructions are flawed and I often get questions even when they are impeccable. I keep a file of these and modify them for each semester. This saves me some time and reminds me of what I need to say and how to say it. I always read them carefully before posting and often have to make changes from one semester to the next.

I am always looking for ways to increase the sense of community in my online classroom. Research shows that students are more engaged when they have a sense of belonging. This phenomenon is pretty natural in a face to face classroom but we have to try to create it in an online class. So the recent update of D2L may make this a bit easier with a new tool.

I posted the following News Item in my classes today. You will see that I am trying to get a deeper sense of community by using the student profile pictures. I'll let you know how it works.

Hi Students,

Many of you have noticed that one of the changes with the recent upgrade to D2L is that your picture now appears with your postings. This offers you a nice new option to put a face with your name. This can add a lot to your team interactions by making this online environment more human. If you want to do that, here are the instructions:

Click on "My Home" at the top left of your screen. Over on the left side of your "My Home" page you will find a box called “My Settings” with a subheading called “Profile”. Click on that link and you will see a place to change picture from the default. Upload a clear image of your face. Be sure your picture is not too big a file, not more than 100 K or so. Also make sure it is a close-up of your face. A full length shot will be too small on the screen. You will want this picture to be fairly professional looking and friendly; no funny expressions, rude gestures, etc. You want people to take you seriously in this environment, much as you would at your job. Keep it simple and friendly. Don’t put a picture of your pet or your car in this place. This is you. If you are shy, just skip the entire exercise and leave the default image. No worries.

You can also add more of your individual profile information in this form. Please be careful. All of this information is available to other students in the class and, therefore, potentially goes out to the world. Don’t share any financial information, your social security number, etc.

Be sure to click on the save button.

:-)

Best,
Dave