In an online environment communication needs to be consistent and offered in multiple forms. From semester to semester your cohort of students will change, in one semester you may have a cohort that tends to respond to email communication, however in the following semester you may find that students ignore their emails but find the announcements section in their course and text messages a helpful space to receive general communication from their coach. Being an online success coach requires flexibility to respond to changes in a cohort’s preference and to communicate using a variety of styles and formats to ensure each student has the chance to be successful regardless of their communication style.

This is why it is best practice to copy communications across different channels. Send an email out about an upcoming study skills workshop

 and post it in the D2L announcements, and send out a text alert a few hours before. Consistency is important, if you start sending text messages out at the beginning of the semester then your cohort of students may rely solely on that form of communication from their coach. It is also important to partner with your course instructors to ensure you are using communication platforms that they have approved in their courses as well as the frequency in which you are posting information. Some faculty may not want their students to get lost with too many announcements or may only want the announcement section to be posted from them.

Platforms for communication

• Emailing Students: PimaConnect and Gmail 
  • Writing effective emails
  • Pima Connect Account Getting Started
• Calling Students: Webex
• Texting students: Virtual Advisor 
  • Instructions
• Discussion Posts and Announcements:  D2L (also known as Brightspace)
  •  Help Page