Best Practices
Resist the urge to share every piece of course-related information you encounter as an announcement. Reserve announcements for important course reminders and updates.
Too many announcements can be overwhelming.
Limit posting announcements to once-weekly, only exceeding this if absolutely necessary.
Be detailed but concise in your announcements. A vague announcement can create confusion and result in more work sending out follow-up responses.
If you want to keep your announcements short by keeping some details out, direct the students to where they can find the omitted information.
Try to limit announcement lengths to 3 brief paragraphs or less.
Sign your name to announcements. Especially in a fully online environment, this helps students see that you are active in the course and adds a personal touch to a setting that can feel isolating.
In an online or hybrid class, posting weekly announcements reminding students about what upcoming course materials are due and when they should complete it by can help keep students on schedule and increase success rates.
Posting weekly announcements on the same day each week will help establish and reinforce regular communication protocols.
At the beginning of a course, use the announcement tool to post a welcome message greeting the students and setting the tone for the course.
Credits:
Created with images by AbsolutVision - "Things to do" • Patrick Tomasso - "untitled image" • Kimberly Farmer - "A collection of books. A little time. A lot of learning." • J. Kelly Brito - "From the Creatives Working collection. Full collection at kellybrito.com" • Emma Matthews Digital Content Production - "Black and White Desk Flat Lay" • STIL - "untitled image"