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Best Practices For Encouraging Instructor/Student Communication And Partnerships In Online Learning, Amanda W. Joyce, Jennifer Morrison, Tanya Romero-González, Martin Kane

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When students and instructors communicate well, students’ GPAs, GRE scores, educational engagement, personal development, and satisfaction with their learning experience all improve. Similarly, when instructors are transparent in their course decisions and involve students as partners in their education, student retention, academic sense of belonging, student-instructor interactions, and networking opportunities all improve. However, face-to-face techniques for student/instructor communication, like informal before-class conversations or in-class question-and-answer sessions about assignments, can be challenging to implement in an online environment. The purpose of this piece is to discuss evidence-based strategies for improving transparency and communication in an online learning environment.