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The Importance of Announcements

October 3, 2016 by Katie Venit Leave a Comment

news toolAnnouncements are a primary means of establishing instructor presence in a course. This is the place where you can bring in your teaching expertise–your personal flair–for the whole class to read. The most successful posts tie the instructor’s personal life or experience with the course material, or draw attention to the latest news on the topic. They circle back to the previous week’s assignments and better explain an exam question that many students got wrong. They summarize a discussion or point out something that the instructor learned from various written assignments. They look to the week ahead, reminding students of upcoming assignments and giving them points to look out for. They explain points of confusion or ask students to look at something from another perspective. In this way, even an instructor who didn’t design a course can make the course their own.

The important thing to remember with announcements is that they be topical and deepen student learning. This article from Faculty Focus, Using Announcements to Give Narrative Shape to your Online Course, contains some great tips for how to create a narrative around your class and help students make meaning.

Keep in mind that if you’re posting an announcement that should really be part of the course (even if another instructor teaches it), or something that the students need to successfully complete their assignments, then contact your instructional designer to discuss embedding that material in the course.

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Katie Venit
Katie Venit
I received my B.A. in English with a minor in Journalism from Wake Forest University and an M.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University Bloomington. I see the role of an instructional designer as one that removes barriers to learning online content. Those barriers might be ones of accessibility, clarity, motivation, or something else that we discover as the online education continues to be refined. My job is to collaborate with instructors to make their content shine.
Katie Venit
Latest posts by Katie Venit (see all)
  • Reusing Old Announcements - December 21, 2020
  • Providing Flexibility for Students, Especially During Disruptive Times - November 25, 2020
  • Quick Tip: When to Use Captions vs. Video Summaries - November 5, 2020

Filed Under: Online Teaching Tagged With: Announcements, Fundamentals, Instructor, Instructor Presence, Social Presence

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Through the partnerships we form with our instructors, we develop engaging and interactive online courses. Here you’ll find ideas on course design informed by the latest research and teaching strategies that build community and instructor presence. We’ll also we share our experiences with technology, with Canvas, and with administering our online educational programs.

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