We’ve put together some helpful tips for communicating with students as you work with them remotely, whether that be in your role as instructor, advisor, or student service provider. Below you’ll find options for regular emails, online chats or web meetings, and regular phone calls. (The Canvas instructions are for faculty interactions with students in their courses; all other methods can be employed for any type of interaction with students – whether individually or in groups.)
Email
It is recommended that emails be sent through your Goucher email or Canvas. Using
a personal email address makes it harder for students to manage their course-related
email and to avoid losing messages in spam or junk filters.
Canvas Course Chat
The Canvas Chat tool can be used for real-time conversation with users enrolled in a course. Any user in the course can participate in a chat conversation and view all chat content. You may consider posting chat hours in the course calendar to let students know when you are available. You can also open Chat in a new browser window while viewing other areas in Canvas.
Web Meetings with Zoom
With Zoom, you and your students can see one another, hear one another, share your desktops, and much more all in real-time. Meetings can also be recorded for sharing later. Goucher provides all faculty and students with a basic account for free. Basic accounts have a 40-minute-per-meeting limit, although the number of meetings overall is unlimited. Faculty can request an upgrade from the IT Help Desk for longer meeting times if needed.
Phone
What if I have a question or if I need technical assistance?
You can contact the Help Desk by email helpdesk@dos5.net, visit http://iru.dos5.net/it, or call or text 410-337-6322 from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.