9. Communication tools

ETutors need to know 1) communication tools available to them and 2) which tools they need to use in a specific situation. Effective use of these tools will be evidenced by learners' motivation, success and satisfaction.

Email

Emails are used to individually communicate with learners. Emails are stored in the mail box, which enable checking the exchange history with a specific learner. The sooner you respond to learners' emails, the higher their trust in you. In all case, respond to your learners' email not later than 48 hours from receipt. When this is not practical, acknowledge receipt, let them know why you will be unable to provide timely feedback and give them timeline within which they would expect feedback. Below are some rules for communicating with email:

  • Keep it short and to the point
  • Refer to an attachment and make sure its size is within the email system limits.
  • Depending on the email system you are using, star or flag email you think are more important so that you could easily identify them later on. If the email is no longer important, you may unflag or remove the star from it (you actually change the colour of the flag or star to normal).
  • Choose a precise, short and logical topic of the email
  • Use the first person to refer to yourself and the second person to refer to the recipient
  • Keep the email positive

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Last modified: Friday, 22 February 2019, 11:19 AM