We all may think of our syllabi as sacred objects, lovingly hewn and presented, there to keep the class on track and answer every student’s questions and concerns. We also know that our students, how shall I put it, don’t always read our syllabi with quite the same level of care with which they were crafted. After all, they’re juggling our course with several others (and jobs/families), and things can slip through the cracks, To save frustrations, and more importantly to keep our students engaged and informed as the semester thunders along, reminders help. But how do we know that students are reading email reminders? Do they help either?
Pamela Kallamanis has been kind enough to share her strategy that hits the sweet spot between being informational, accessible, and fun.
I’ll hand things over to her:
“Each week at the start of the week, I make short videos to welcome the students back to class and remind them what is on the syllabus that week. At the end of the week, I remind them what we did and what to expect the next week. I also include videos on how to find the library and such.
Here is one example:
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p class=”x_MsoNormal”><a title=”Original URL:
Hunter P2 due!
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Click to follow link.” href=”https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshorts%2FA_n1Ysws7w0&data=05%7C02%7Cghollis%40hunter.cuny.edu%7C4da2e86af2d043489c5108dcf0728ec3%7C6f60f0b35f064e099715989dba8cc7d8%7C0%7C0%7C638649622060323857%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lFi3BAteMpnViqHvdanVltTJDLe9GXskr66e4DYG%2FqY%3D&reserved=0″ data-ogsc=”” data-outlook-id=”e7c9545c-1bf8-48eb-820a-47a4ca266c19″>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A_n1Ysws7w0
On Brightspace, I’ve been able to upload very easily. I find that the course management page is very good with videos and images. Included on my course page are images and these review videos about what to bring, etc.
I think the students react well to them, not so much because they are instructional. Rather, the students are aware that I am looking out for them. And they’re appreciative of the reminders.”
Thanks Pamela!
(Pamela also has some wise words about Brightspace and functionality, which I might save for a future post as we get closer to Spring).
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