Communicate 2.1.1

Communicate 2.1.1
Identify Stakeholders

• Do the descriptions correlate to your perception?
• How can they be expanded upon or described further?
• Are there other stakeholders within an online environment not considered above?

 In an online school the stakeholders are:

• instructors
• students
• parents 
• local school administrative staff

 Stakeholders are to help students succeed in online learning. In a virtual classroom communication is the most important aspect. Communication involves how the subject matter is taught, how expectations are determined, how parents remain involved in their students progress, and how the administration provides support.

These descriptions of the stakeholders as found on the TOOL website are what I would expect of stakeholders in an online teaching environment.

The Quest:

How do stakeholders play a role in successful online learning?

The Instructor:

As an instructor of an online course, one must consider whether communication is constant, timely, specific, and adheres to the policies delineated by the school. Additionally, the instructor should strive to communicate freely with all stakeholders with both positive commentary on performance, as well as communications centering on areas of weakness and/or concern. All instructors must employ a professional tone, ensure availability to students, and monitor student progress constantly.

The Student:

As student in an online course, one must ensure that communication remains continuous with the instructor, questions are asked freely, emails are specific and employ the appropriate tone, and all school policies are adhered to in the correspondence. All students should be proactive and create a dialogue with their respective instructors immediately upon entering the course. Synchronous sessions, email, and phone calls provide students with three specific mediums for presenting questions to instructors, concerning the curriculum, areas of weakness, feedback, and performance in the course.

The Parents:

As parents of students enrolled in an online course, the concept of effective communication takes a more specific form, in that parents play an active role in the success of their students and instructors rely heavily on the support of parents for continued student achievement.

In truth, parents assume the role of a “coach,” and guide, encourage, and assist their students throughout the learning process. If parents are comfortable with the content, learning platform, and standards, students will seek assistance more freely, asking questions, sharing insights, and knowledge.

Communication with parents, as presented previously, must be constant to maintain an interest in the class and the progress of their respective students. In most LMS platforms, parents have the ability to check students progress with auditor accounts, and this affords real-time analysis of grades and overall performance in the course. Communicate with parents often via email, newsletters, and phone calls to facilitate a collaborative classroom environment.

The Local School Administration:

A number of online learning programs integrate a hybrid approach to virtual learning, and the schools have facilitators or administrative team leads that oversee the progress of students enrolled in both online learning course and the traditional school model.

For online instructors, the local school offers an additional level of support for student achievement and establishing a strong relationship benefits all stakeholders. Ostensibly, the local school represent the champions of the online the online student, in that the staff is available to assist those students enrolled in a virtual class during the school day by monitoring productivity, responding to specific questions, and collaborating with the instruction with distinct observations and questions. Additionally, the local school administration staff provide another mode of contact with parents.

Other stakeholders not discussed above could included: school board members and business and community leaders.

The stakeholders listed above are an essential part of daily virtual learning. Communication is the key to success and with excellent communication between all of these stakeholders students should have what they need to succeed.