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Question: Communication
Answer:
In the Communication area you will be able to Send Email, post messages to the Discussion Board, utilize the Virtual Classroom, see the class Roster, and view Group Pages.
Users can access email functions for specific courses through the Send Email page. From this page users can send email to fellow classmates, instructors, teaching assistants or groups within a course.
The Discussion Board is another communication tool that can be used to enhance a course Web site. This feature is similar to the virtual chat, but is designed for asynchronous use, meaning students do not have to be available at the same time to have a conversation. An additional advantage of the discussion board is that student conversations are logged and organized.
Conversations are grouped into threads that contain a main posting and all related replies for easy retrieval. To access a forum listed on the Discussion Board page click a forum topic link. The Discussion Forum Board will appear. Additional functions are available on this page. On the Discussion Board page students may access listed discussion boards by clicking on the appropriate link. Once a forum has been accessed a new Discussion Board page appears. Students are able to create new threads from the discussion board.
The Virtual Classroom will open a chat session that users can utilize for synchronous communication. Click the Enter Virtual Classroom link to enable the chat session.
Users can search the Roster and view lists of students, instructors, and teaching assistants associated with a specific course. The Roster contains a search function. Users can search using different variables. Once a specific user is found, the link for their name will open their homepage for viewing.
Group Pages allow users to review home pages created for groups of students. From a group's page, users are able to send Email to group members, exchange files, enter discussion forums and enter a virtual classroom discussion. All of the functions available from group pages with the exception of the file exchange, function the same in the course Web site. The file exchange function allows users to easily exchange files with their fellow group members. The File exchange page displays the current files available for use by the group members and the option to add files by clicking Add File.
