Good practice example of online communication

Weekly bulletins to update students and link to key items

Valerie Watchorn - School of Health & Social Development

This exemplar describes the way in which the News tool in Desire2Learn was used to provide students with weekly updates and quick links to relevant weekly content. Videos were also used to add a personal touch. The unit was one of the four pilot units using Desire2Learn at Deakin University in Trimester 1, 2011.

About the unit

HSO102 is an on-campus unit in the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. It is a first-year unit which has approximately 85 students. Occupational therapy fieldwork is included as part of this unit.

Use of News bulletins

I used weekly news bulletins in this unit's Desire2Llearn site throughout the trimester to keep students informed of unit expectations and updates. As Unit Chair, providing an online weekly summary allows me to highlight and reinforce items from the previous week's content and also alert students to upcoming events that they need to be aware of. In a unit with both academic and fieldwork components there are a number of events for students to be mindful of during the trimester.

Linking to key items

In Desire2Learn, the ability to integrate quicklinks into news items has been particularly useful. As well as telling students where I have added an item of content to the site, I have been able to add a link directly from the news bulletin. I have also used quicklinks to inform students of relevant external websites and to provide a direct link to them.

Images and video

During the trimester I integrated two video clips into my news items. The first was a welcome message which featured a 2-minute video of myself welcoming students to the unit. Later in the trimester I used a video to inform students that I had returned from leave. It was useful to be able to use an audio-visual medium for these purposes and I think it enhanced the aesthetics and interactive feel of DSO.

Feedback from students

Students have mentioned news items positively in both informal and formal student feedback. Students have indicated that they appreciated being kept informed in a regular and consistent manner.

Welcome message (click link to enlarge picture)	Weekly message (click link to enlarge picture)

Please send us your comments:

Can you suggest another exemplar of online teaching at Deakin? Comments will be forwarded to the Institute of Teaching and Learning.