Tips for Managing Email Communication with Students
- Managing email you send to students
- Managing email you receive from students
- Managing how you respond
- Managing response time
- Managing tone and ethos
- Modeling good email practices
- Managing folders and archives
- Avoid attachments
Use an email client
The webmail interfaces for both MEMO and Student are fine for accessing your email on a strange machine (and they are necessary for setting up filters), but to really manage email effectively, use a client. Outlook Express is excellent, but there are others.
Use templates
Templates allow information to be reused and modified for different situations. This can save a lot of typing and also ensures that the standard of information and response tone doesn't vary widely between students and classes. Some examples are administrative messages such as welcome email messages containing introductory information or giving information on access, reminders of deadlines, requests for evaluative feedback, rubrics for specific activities or tasks, and information on assessment procedures.
Store templates in your Drafts folder for easy access during the semester. Just remember to edit them before sending them.
Use a course folder or a web page
Rather than send course materials to students, put copies of materials in a course folder or standard information on a web page. Then reply with a standard message that points to the appropriate location. Eventually students will learn to look in those places before sending you an email message.
Choose how you use your email accounts
Faculty have both MEMO and student email accounts. You can forward email from one to the other using filters. You can use the same or different signatures on these accounts.
Use distribution lists
A GCC distribution list can manage sending messages to an entire section or course; these adjust automatically to reflect the drops and adds to your class. Students can forward their email messages
to any account they prefer. Using a college email address helps students establish a more professional approach to their education.
Use customized subject lines for replies
If you use a link on a web page to elicit an email response, force a specific subject line for replies. That makes it easier to identify the topics and to sort and filter replies. (Want more information? Tell me!)
But is there a reason that students are sending their replies to you? Maybe the whole class would like to read what they've said.
Use automated replies (judiciously)
A short, standard reply can confirm that a specific message from a student has been received. Often this will eliminate a raft of individual messages asking whether you received a document or reply. You can include specific instructions in an automated reply (go on to the next assignment, etc.)
Use filters and mailboxes to sort and store messages.
All incoming and outgoing mail can be filtered into separate Mailboxes or Folders to allow you to prioritise and easily find messages. Many email programs have good search facilities to help you find specific information. After responding to a student email message, I save the student email in a mailbox named for the section, semester, and year. At the end of the semester, these mailboxes can be archived if needed for future reference.
Prioritise messages.
Skim through emails when they arrive and respond immediately to any urgent questions or simple requests, send 'holding' responses if you don't have time to send immediate feedback, and delete anything that's not essential (for example junk email, bogus virus warnings, chain letters and other hoaxes).
Encourage students to support each other
When a student emails a question or problem that other students will likely encounter, I ask the student to re-post the question in the class discussion. This way, I answer the question or address the problem once and other students can read my reply. I also encourage other students to contribute their ideas and solutions to their classmates' questions. When done regularly, students will build a support structure amongst themselves and not always wait for the teacher to supply the answers.
Advanced Options
- Use the spreadsheet roster option to create a list of students with email addresses. Then use mail merge to create customized messages that can be sent to selected students
- Use other tools (like [FormWiz] or quiz/survey software) to get information, or use discussion groups for questions and answers. Use the assignment submission feature in Blackboard or a drop box folder on the new GCCAZ server.
