Using E-mail and Online Discussion to Enhance Learning

I am posting this article as a springboard for beginning a discussion about the importance of making our LU email addresses a mandatory (and, eventually, primary) mode of communication, for both faculty and students. Email can keep students informed about university activities, or their own financial aid and registration needs, if there is a central email address for each student that can be readily known by all parties needing to contact that student; and, students must understand and embrace the importance of relying on that email address. Faculty can use email as an effective tool, if incoming messages are readily identifiable as those from students and colleagues, as opposed to spam. The university has a way to ensure students are receiving communications concerning WebAdvisor and Blackboard, if the institution can be assured that students are checking their email accounts regularly. Many, if not most, other universities already do (or are moving toward) require students and faculty to communicate only via university email accounts , as policy. What is our plan for establishing this important foundation for effective, timely, cost-effective communication at LU?

Using E-mail and Online Discussion to Enhance Learning: "Using E-mail and Online Discussion to Enhance Learning
by Dorothy Frayer, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, Duquesne University"
Topics include: E-Mail for Student Questions to Faculty, E-mail for Pre-Class Writing Assignments, Asynchronous Discussion to Enhance Reflection and Critical Thinking, Create a Comfortable Learning Environment, Structure Assignments to Enhance Thinking Skills, Use Collaborative Work, Manage Your Workload, Use Software Capabilities, Bringing in the Outside World; through Online Discussion