Communication Tools Comparison

A communication challenge you might face whether you’re teaching in a physically distanced in-person class, a blended one, or one that’s totally online, will be to try to communicate the same information to students who are not able to attend the in-person class, or to communicate with students who may have fallen behind. Remember, you should strive to provide equitable communication to all students, and opportunities for students to communicate with you and with each other, regardless of how they’re engaging with the course. Not only will some instructors have to consider how to communicate important information to students in different physical locations, but also across modalities and time.

The expandable sections below offer some additional information when considering how to communicate instructor to student, student to student, and student to instructor.

✅ Might work because

  • Efficient, but remember that your communication and that of your students will be prohibited by masks and spacing requirements.
  • You can use the classroom environment to support your goals for the session: whiteboards, projectors, screens, and other equipment in a physical classroom.
  • Hand gestures and body language can help you get your point across.

❌ Might not work because

  • One group of students will get the information first.
  • We can't emote as easily with masks on; consider reaching out to Disability Services for a mask with a clear front for students who may need this accommodation.
  • The volume of our voices will be dampened by a mask.

✅ Might work because

  • Personable and efficient.
  • Effective for one-to-one communication.

❌ Might not work because

  • Time intensive if you have to do this with every student.
  • Students don't necessarily talk on the phone—they may feel more comfortable communicating through email.
  • Ephemeral (unless you record it!)

✅ Might work because

  • A "distribution list" will allow you to send a message to your entire class at once.
  • Familiar to you and to students.

❌ Might not work because

  • One-on-one communication can get "noisy" and relies on the class list in SIS or Canvas (not Outlook).
  • Media limited.

 

✅ Might work because

  • Engage the whole class or specific groups of students.
  • Keep related things together.
  • Familiar in principle to students.
  • Less formal.

❌ Might not work because

  • Requires regular/frequent interaction for best results.
  • Small learning curve in Canvas initially.
  • Task needs clarification.
  • Less formal.

✅ Might work because

  • Intuitive and in Canvas.
  • Alert the whole class or sections of students all at once.
  • Allows for rich media (video messages, images, etc.).
  • Students get notified.
  • Allows for student comments (optional).

❌ Might not work because

  • Students can disable email notifications—but still see announcements when in Canvas.
  • Can get noisy with frequent use.

 

✅ Might work because

  • Integrated in Canvas.
  • Allows you and your students multiple means of expression.
  • Creates an archive of discussion attached to an object (document, reading, video, syllabus).

❌ Might not work because

  • Consider using a low stakes activity to get students used to features of VT. 
  • Might require some additional training—luckily CATL has your back here!

✅ Might work because

  • Feels more like being in the classroom.
  • Sessions can be recorded for review (or for those who miss).
  • Varying levels of interactive options (whiteboard, breakout groups, chat, polls, etc.).

❌ Might not work because

  • Steeper learning curve the first time.
  • Relies on a good connection and technology.
  • Logistically, some students cannot make it to synchronous sessions.

✅ Might work because

  • Feels more like being in the classroom.
  • Sessions can be recorded for review (or for those who miss).
  • Varying levels of interactive options (whiteboard, breakout groups, chat, polls, etc.).

❌ Might not work because

  • Steeper learning curve the first time.
  • Relies on a good connection and technology.
  • Logistically, some students cannot make it to synchronous sessions.

✅ Might work because

  • Allows instructors to create channels for specific people, or a whole class
  • Integrated into Canvas
  • Can @ people to notify them; and use emojis to respond to chats
  • Could be useful for communicating expectations for group work.

❌ Might not work because

  • Is relatively new to students as a communication tool; they maybe more familiar with it as a synchronous meeting tool
  • Easy to get lost in threads if users don't tag each other for communicating
  • Steep learning curve to utilize full functionality

✅ Might work because

  • Intuitive and familiar to students.
  • Easy to use.
  • Synchronous.
  • A "history" of the chat is available to the entire class making it good for Q&A-type sessions.

❌ Might not work because

  • Synchronous.
  • Media limited.
  • Whole-class only. Cannot be limited to specific students.

✅ Might work because

  • Displays course due dates automatically.
  • Can add other items (like reminders).

❌ Might not work because

  • Requires "due dates."
  • Only the names of events appear directly on the calendar.

✅ Might work because

  • Create blocks of time for students to sign up to meet one-on-one (e.g. office hours).
  • Can use a "feed" to add these blocks to Outlook.

❌ Might not work because

  • Required additional communication so students know how and to use them.