email and Discussion Lists

An email discussion list offers ways for students to interact and share information in class. You can also ask them to join other lists outside of class, groups with more extended conversations.

A Few Ways to Make Use of Email

  1. Assign one or two students per class to take notes and to write summaries of class discussions and post them to class lists.
  2. Assign a student to list homework and other class assignment updates and changes on a class list.
  3. Extend classroom discussion in email.
  4. Send timely readings to a class list from online "Email This Article to a Friend" options.
  5. Use email to create meeting times for study groups or group projects.
  6. Have students evaluate the writing style of posts to professional discussion lists. Compare this style to the academic publishing style.

For a more extensive look at developing email communication and managing the amount of messages, see our email Management Workshop.