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Managing Coursewide Communication

Why?

Answering email questions to several, or all, members of the course can be extremely time consuming.
Utilizing the Announcements feature, or a Q & A Discussion Board forum allow you to "write once so that many can read".

Implications for Teaching and Learning.

All students will receive the same information, worded in the same way, causing less chance of confusion.
The instructor will be able to save time by creating a message only once instead of composing numerous answers to emails, phone calls, etc.
If the students are introduced to having a Q & A forum on the Discussion Board at the beginning of the semester, they will have a "go to" place where they know they may find the answer to their question already posted.
A localized Q & A forum can also allow for students to answer each other's questions, which can be extremely helpful in allowing for more student/student contact, as well as allowing for the possible availability of answers more quickly than the instructor can reply, or providing answers during the instructor's "off hours".
Utilizing Announcements to answer questions assures that important information will be seen when students first log in to the course. In addition, information that is especially urgent can be "broadcast" from the Announcement area to all of the students' registered email addresses. This conveys information two different ways - an announcement that stays in the course, and an email that is sent to each student - by "writing once". NOTE: It is recommended that broadcasting announcements be saved for only truly serious occasions - students who receive too many of these kinds of emails may choose to ignore, or block, future emails - a situation that could actually hinder communication.

Promising Practices for TWU.

Create a Q & A Discussion Board forum and explain to students at the beginning of the semester that this will be the area in which they should ask questions about assignments, how to find things in the course, etc. Explain to them that the questions they have could very well be the same that others in the class have, and that the forum area will be the equivalent of raising their hand in a F2F class to ask a question. Let them know that everyone sees the same information, and that they are welcome to assist others in the class if they have answers to their questions.
Word the information in the forum to let students know what kinds of questions should be asked here, and who can answer them. For example: "This forum is for questions about the course. Please post your questions here, or post answers to questions that someone else has. This is an informal board - casual tone and emoticons are OK here, and anonymous posts are allowed." Allowing for anonymous posting may encourage students to ask questions who would otherwise be hesitant to seem uninformed.
Be sure to let students know that they can contact you in a more private way if they have questions or concerns of an individual nature, such as about their individual grades.
Explain to students early in the semester how the Announcements area will be used. Let them know to check this area first when they log into the course, because this will be where important information, clarification of assignments, changes in due dates, etc. will be posted. It is also a good idea to explain to students that they need to log into the course regularly so that they will not miss any important information that you will be conveying through the announcements.