With the bulk of the course content prepared before the term begins, announcements are your best opportunity to personally coach students, to motivate them through the tough moments, and facilitate learning and deep engagement with the course.
That said, it is also true that creating unique, thoughtful, impactful announcements many times a week throughout a busy academic term can seem like a daunting task. We’ve pulled ideas from across the courses we support to provide ideas for creating an effective announcement strategy. Explore approaches to further humanize your course content through announcements.
Unlocking the Potential of Announcements
Consider the types of announcements you typically post in your course. What is the goal of the announcement? What are you ultimately communicating to students? Think about your announcement content from a student perspective:
- Can students sense your personality and subject matter expertise?
- Are your posts motivating for students?
You can think of announcements as two categories, content-based announcements, and non-content-based announcements. Both kinds of announcement categories are beneficial to the online learning environment, supporting your instructor presence as well as student learning.
Content-Based Announcements
Content-based announcements focus on connecting students with the course content in unique ways. Whether you share examples from your professional experience or draw connections to current news, these announcements help students deepen their understanding of the subject matter. Posting these kinds of announcements reliably supports regular and substantive interaction within your online course.
- Support and Extend Content
- Are there current events or industry developments that relate to the week’s content?
- What personal experiences can support the course content?
- What questions did/do you have about this content as you were learning it?
- Providing Feedback (whole class observations)
- Noticing students making the same error across their assignments? Share the observation along with tips to address it with the class!
- Did an interesting conversation pop up in a small discussion group? Share it with the class so everyone can benefit!
Non-Content-Based Announcements
Non-content-based announcements are less focused on the instructional content of the course. For example, a due date reminder is related to the course, but it does not explicitly expand on the course content or provide unique instruction. But such announcements can still be useful: Reminding students about them can help rally your busy students.
- Housekeeping & Reminders
- Highlight upcoming deadline reminders.
- Share relevant webinars or events that may interest students.
- Let students know when you’re finished grading assignments and that they should review their feedback.
- Building Community
- Excited about a sports game or a new television show coming up? Mention it!
- Provide small snippets into your life. Whether related to your professional work or personal life, these glimpses remind students you’re human, too!
Personalize Your Announcements
Reusing past announcements and creating reusable announcement templates are timesaving strategies you can leverage but remember to personalize them! Tailor your announcements to convey your individual voice as an instructor. In addition, each class has unique needs, so some classes may need more coaching in certain areas compared to others.
Make Announcements Accessible
As always, remember that your announcements must meet accessiblity guidelines.