Communicate Reflection

How has the Communicate module prepared you to meet the standards, C, D, E, J, and K for Quality Online Teaching? Link to or provide specific examples from your work in Communicate. What strategies will you take away from the Communicate module and apply to your teaching?  What lessons were most beneficial for you?

The Communicate module was significant in that it led me to explore a variety of ways to make connections with online students and parents during the course. This is important because if students don't remain engaged, they risk dropping out or not performing. There were several strategies presented in the lessons apply to my online teaching. They were all beneficial, but I will highlight a few. 
First, I learned other methods than written to provide Digital Feedback to students, such as using an audio file. 
The News Items lesson was most important for my learning as well.  It has been a few years since I taught a virtual course, but this section reminded me of how important it is to post news briefs, news bulletins and newsletters to keep students engaged. 
The Rubrics lesson contained some big take-a-ways as well.  This lesson reminded me that rubrics are not only for discussion forums, but also can be used for lesson tasks, quizzes, and tests.  
Lastly, the Synchronous Sessions lesson was extremely valuable because there I learned the importance of always having an agenda for the synchronous sessions. The time goes by quickly in those sessions and it is important to cover enough information with students to get them confident to working independently until the next meeting. A big take-a-way here is to break up the sessions into chunks, including an interactive session. It is also important to plan time for student-to-student interaction.  These strategies will foster effective communication skills among all stakeholders.