From lernerda@h-net.msu.eduTue Feb 13 14:57:34 1996
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 14:28:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Dan Lerner <lernerda@h-net.msu.edu>
To: H-CLC Gopherspace <clc@h-net.msu.edu>
Subject: Re: Email in teaching (fwd)



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 09:17:05 -0600
From: H-CLC (BD) <bdiederi@artsci.wustl.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list H-CLC <H-CLC@MSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Email in teaching

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 12:34:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Zoe Borovsky <borovsky@darkwing.uoregon.edu>

i have never required my students to use email in my courses, but my
students and i use it extensively in all my courses.  i usually
distribute a class list with both phone numbers and email addresses for
each student. (the univ. of oregon requires a signed release form from
each student before i can do this.)  i also make a web page of the class
from which students can send each other mail.  i have a tight teaching
schedule and maintain close contact with each of my students; email, i
find, is the best way for me to meet the individualized needs of my
students.  if they need to make an appt, arrange for a letter of
recommendation, an early or late exam, it is easier for me to
arrange this from my computer in my office than after class when we are
rushed for time.  once they establish an initial contact, it is easy to
suggest they could send drafts, outlines, and even their final projects
via email.
since i teach foreign language, i encourage them to write in
Norwegian, and offer them information on how to subscribe to email lists
(such as NorWord that connects them with other students learning the same
language) and newsgroups.  one of the advantages to introducing email and
educational technology in foreign language courses, is that i have
contact with students for a year or two; and can introduce ed tech
gradually. i would also argue that there are many similarities between
teaching a foreign language and teaching electronic communication: that
the pedagogical principles of teaching students a "foreign" language are
quite similar to those of teaching students to communicate electronically.

zoe borovsky
dept of germanic
university of oregon