Guide to Communicating with Instructors Effective communication is a key to student success. To help ensure your success in your online classes, it is crucial to maintain an open line of communication with your instructors. Your instructor should be your main point of contact for any classroom-related questions. There are several ways in which you can communicate with your instructor 1. Email Enter your current course from the Virtual Campus Home page. To do this, look under the Current Classes heading on the Virtual Campus homepage. Click the name of the course to enter your classroom. Once you are inside the classroom portal, click the Course Information tab under the course title. When the next page loads, you will see your instructor s email address on the right side of the page. Click on the email address. (See next page for more information)
1. Email (Continued) When you click on the instructor s email address, a window will pop up with an email form. This email will be sent from your AIU student email account to your instructor. Note: Always include the session number, your course code, section number, full name, and student ID in the subject lines of your emails. Note: If you prefer to navigate your classroom using icons rather than tabs, click Icon View to the left of the tabs at the top of your classroom page. Then, click Course Information to view your instructor s contact information.
2. Instructor Office Hours Office Hours provide a private and convenient one-on-one environment for you to chat with your instructor. To locate your instructor s scheduled Office Hours, click the Course Information tab at the top of your classroom page or by viewing your instructor s What s New announcements. Once on the Course Information page loads, you will find office hours listed under the instructor s information on the right side of the page. During Office Hours, instructors are available via Instant Messaging (IM) on the Virtual Campus. To access your Instant Message buddy list, locate the slide-out menus on the right-hand side of any Virtual Campus page. The Instant Message icon is the top slide-out button. When you click on it, your buddy list will expand into view: (See next page for more information)
2. Instructor Office Hours (Continued) Look for your instructor s name in your buddy list. When your Instructors are online, the icon next to their name will be blue. To Instant Message, simply click on their name and select Send. You can Instant Message any AIU Department quickly and easily! Note: If the Instant Message pop-up window does not automatically appear, adjust your pop-up blocker settings to designate AIU Online as a safe website. For assistance, please contact Technical Support at 877-221-5800, Option 2. To support our students, Technical Support is available 24/7/365! Note: If you prefer to navigate your classroom using icons rather than tabs, click Icon View to the left of the tabs at the top of your classroom page. Then, click Course Information to view your instructor s contact information.
3. Live Chats Instructors host at least one live chat session each week. Locate scheduled live chat times by clicking the Course Information tab at the top of your classroom page or by viewing your instructor s What s New announcements. Once on the Course Information page loads, you will find your course s live chat times listed under the Schedule heading. During live chats, instructors present course-relevant materials to the class. Valuable tips, resources and guidance to help students meet assignment requirements are also presented. Live chats also allow you to ask the instructor questions and provide you an opportunity to engage in conversation with fellow classmates. Set aside at least one hour each week to attend/review live chats. Live chats are recorded if you cannot attend live. To view a live or recorded classroom chat, click the Live Chat tab at the top of your classroom page. When the next page loads, you will see links to upcoming and recorded live chats. Click a link to access the chat.
3. Live Chats (Continued) Note: If you prefer to navigate your classroom using icons rather than tabs, click Icon View to the left of the tabs at the top of your classroom page. Then, click Course Information to view your instructor s office hours. 4. Voicemail To find your instructor s voicemail number, click the Course Information tab at the top of your classroom page or view the What s New announcements. When the Course Information page loads, you will see your instructor s phone number listed under the instructor s information on the right side of the page. It is important to note most of the phone numbers found in your classroom ring to voicemail boxes and are not direct lines to your instructor. Occasionally, instructors will provide students with personal phone numbers. Remember, the best method of communication will always be email. When leaving a voice message, it is important to provide the session number, your course code, section number, full name, and student ID and a return contact number or preferred method of contact. It is recommended students send a follow-up email after leaving voicemail messages.