The discourse between faculty and students within a course has been identified as being important to allowing students to participate in and reflect on the learning process (Wenger, 1998).  The communication processes within a course have been identified by the Institution for Higher Education Policy (IHEP, 2000) in two of the benchmarks for quality online learning.  These benchmarks address the student interaction with faculty and classmates as an essential component to a quality course (IHEP).  Additionally, students should receive timely and constructive feedback on assignments (IHEP).  Chickering and Gamson (1999) support these benchmarks with three of their seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education.  These principles encourage student-faculty contact, cooperation among students, and prompt feedback on student work (Chickering & Gamson).  Johnson and Johnson (1999) reported that, “the degree of emotional bonding that exists among students has a profound effect on the quality of work performed” (p. 206). 

Facilitating communication and feedback within the Angel course management system (CMS) can be accomplished through several tools.  These tools include email, announcements, discussion forums, chat, and the grade book.  Asynchronous communications within the CMS include email, announcements, and discussion forums. Hrastinski (2006) reported that email is the choice of communication and can be utilized as a rich medium for interaction.  Email within Angel can be added to the course login page, making new mail easily viewable by students.  Announcements can also be displayed for a range of days and the history of announcements is available for viewing throughout the term.  Bento and Schuster (2003) evaluated student participation in asynchronous communication.  They defined the active learners as those who interact with their classmates and the course content.  Interaction between classmates and the course content can be achieved through clear expectations of participation in a discussion forum.  Students should be provided with criteria for responses to course material and guidelines for responses to other students.

Synchronous communication, such as chat sessions, have proven to not only allow most members to contribute to the discussion, but also to increase overall participation (Leidner & Jarvenpaa, 1995).  Students that utilized chat found it easier to communicate and felt a stronger sense of community (Nicholson, 2002).  Chat session guidelines should be established prior to the start of the session and may include appropriate use of instant message language, formality of conversations, topics to be addressed, appropriate time for questioning, and expectations for student responses to questions.  Chat features are available with the Angel system.

Timely and constructive feedback on student work can be provided in many ways through the CMS and through campus technology.  The grade book feature within Angel allows students immediate access to grades once they are posted.  Additionally, faculty can provide comments in the section provided on the grade book.  Faculty can also download Word document files, make corrections or comments utilizing the track changes or comments feature and email the document to students.  Feedback should also be provided for students on the discussion forums to ensure appropriate participation.

New technologies are available to increase the interaction of students and faculty.  Blogs provide an avenue for faculty to keep students updated on course materials or assignments.  Free blog space is available at https://www.blogger.com/.  Wikis allow collaborative work on documents.  Mediated space for a wiki is available at http://www.wikispaces.com/.  Faculty can create a 3-D, virtual learning space at http://secondlife.com/. These technologies can be aligned with the learning outcomes and be developed to enhance instructional quality.  

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