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[larryc]

Friends: In another thread, I suggesting using a course website to keep students on track, and another forumite pointed out that his or her students don't necessarily ever visit the class website.  Good point.

So how do you encourage students to visit the class website, especially in a classroom course?  Here are a few things I do, but I am eager to hear you r ideas.

1. I put the first quiz exclusively online at the course website. Bonus--the first quiz is over the course syllabus, and the can retake it as many times as they want until they get 100%.  The questions are all the big assignments and select pet peeves: How many papers will you write for this course? When are they due? What is the penalty for plagiarism in this course? What are the important elements of a professional email? When should you email the professor, and when should you post your question to the discussion board?  My agenda here is that students read and understand the syllabus. My hidden agenda is that they can never, ever, use the "I didn't know" excuse on me.

2. I have weekly quizzes in most of my classes.  Sometimes, 24 hours before class, I will post some of the quiz questions as an announcement.  When I come to class about half the students are beaming and ready for the quiz, the other half are saying "He posted what?! Quick, what were they?" The next week I post fewer questions, but a couple.  Everyone is beaming.

3. All handouts go on the website and I never, ever, hand anything out in class more than once.

4. A course schedule goes on the website and includes links to mandatory external websites that are part of the course readings.

5. My syllabus emphasizes that course policy questions should not be asked via email but posted on the discussion board so I can answer once for everyone.  Students who forget get a polite response: "Great question! Could you please post it on the discussion board?" Bonus: 80% of the time questions get answered by another student (who read the syllabus).

6. Keep it fun.  I post odd links to relevant (more or less) web content. Students in my modern U.S. class get to hear a recording of Lyndon Johnson ordering new pants ("I need a lot of room in the crotch, otherwise its like riding a barbed wire fence!") I recently discovered that you can embed YouTube videos directly in Blackboard announcements!

What else? How can I keep my students visiting the course website so they keep up with the class?

[gennimom]

I haven't got any ideas, but these are great! I like!
I think you will always have one or two though, that will never get on there. But then again, they make it easy to grade their stuff, don't they? F!
I had one student in a lab that refused to check his uni email, didn't have (or wouldn't give me) his alternative email, and never went on WebCT. I checked. He never logged on. That was the only place after the first lab that you could get the material for the lab. I believe he failed, and I didn't feel sorry for him. I did my part. He refused to do his.

[prytania3]

I use the message board as a journal/discussion board (re: the reading or relevent topics) and count it toward class participation. It works out well. It is especially good for shy students, who don't like to speak out in class. They can get very chatty on a message board!

[eternal_adjunct]

I put different carrots up there (little mini-lectures, things that will help), and sometimes I put a stick (if it isn't in the drop box, it's a 0 - no, I won't just take it over email).

But that depends on the school.  At one school (as far as I know) I can get away with requiring students to submit things via blackboard, etc.  At the other, for face-to-face classes, we cannot require them to use the class site (Web CT, incidentally).  Now a lot of us find this strange, because this school is so technologically driven.  But for some reason, they decided that students who take f2f classes don't have to be bothered with available technology if they choose not to use it.  So for that school, I guess I could offer extra credit, or something, but otherwise, a student could object to something like content being delivered exclusively via the website - and win the objection.

[doublemocha]

One of my colleagues posts "bonus" questions and activities on the course site. One week it was "In class on Tuesday, tell me you love my outfit." When students did so, they got the extra points. The posts are a bit silly, but they serve their purpose: to get students to the course site.

For me, the gradebook is on the course site. If students want to know how they are doing, they have to go there to check grades and then ask me specific questions if they have them. Most of my students at least check the gradebook every week.

[gennidad]

I just have one question.  Why do my professors who do use websites look surprised when I show up to class with the day's powerpoint slides and all the related materials printed out?

[dagny]

gennidad....We don't. At least, not all of us do. Some of us encourage it and look surprised when you don't!

[drkamikaze]

I use the blackboard discussion board software at my uni, and I have 1 or 2 students per week post a required discussion paper.

I have also told the students that it is not required to post on the BB, but that they will get discussion credit toward their 20% class discussion.

It is week 8, and there have been over 120 posts to the board. I'm very happy with this approach, and I will use it again.