Low tech solution: crowd sourced communication

Several groups of my comp 2 students chose campus communication as a key problem facing students. Last days to drop, deadlines for enrollment and other key dates pass and too many students remain oblivious. Email is an obvious solution - but leads us to a bigger problem: students don't check their school email account. Need to survey students as to why: is institutional spam an issue - or just inertia and habit? In NYC, some helpful and anonymous citizens have chalked/ spray painted useful info on the sidewalk in places it might do the most good. Don't know if that'd work in our situation - but it reaffirms the idea that people are inherently good.

The message board flat screens do OK - but they are limited in how much they can show and chances of timing. We need additional modes of communication for students. My classes suggested making posters a couple times a year - for only the most important info. TOO MUCH INFORMATION DROWNS THE CRUCIAL MESSAGES IN A SEA OF IRRELEVANT DATA.

The School website - default homepage on all campus computers - is not useful. It is designed for strangers to the school. Those enrolled are assumed to log on to a password encrypted page - but that's too much work when you aren't aware that you need information - and on shared computers .... no one does it. We need an public accessible message board / student oriented web page - with quick links to ANGEL, Billington Library, Student Engagement, etc. It should be updated with key up-to-date info.

THAT should be the default homepage on all instructor/ classroom / lab computers.

All the above suggestions come from my SP 2010 comp 2 classes.

Email - appropriate usage

What are the appropriate and inappropriate uses of email? A friend's divorced dad told her about his remarriage over email. Didn't sit well with my friend. Is this the currently accepted way to break up with a paramour?

In a refereed journal article from EDUCAUSE, faculty note they like using email for communication, but don't like answering substantive questions thru email (lecture clarification, grade discussion, etc), BUT students still feel more comfortable asking these questions through email (perhaps due to shyness, or because written questions can be better composed).

If it's a personal issue or grades - office hours are the most effective and appropriate way to communicate, but if the whole class could benefit from a response– instructors are increasingly blogging it. They can share the info once, and archive it indefinitely to pre-emptively address future class needs - without necessarily identifying the source of a question.

It's interesting what the article mentions in their conclusion:

Additionally, we propose that the development, communication, and adherence to agreed-upon e-mail expectations, norms, and guidelines would improve communications, lessen faculty and student frustrations, and alleviate student anxiety.

Achieving these goals requires instruction in e-mail use, however. Despite objections to attending e-mail training, both faculty and students agree that it would be beneficial—for each other. By raising awareness of the association between student success and one-on-one communication with faculty in an environment where e-mail serves as one of the primary methods of contact, we hope that both faculty and students will begin to see the value of e-mail training and become more willing to attend.

Whatdda ya think?