Avoid Typing a Book

Have you ever tried to explain something to one of your students only to realize that you've typed enough information to warrant a small publishing contract? Sometimes in-depth explanations are necessary. But do the students really read all of the information that we type?


Probably not.


So how can we reteach or explain a concept that is confusing to our students? How can we capture their attention long enough to clarify a question?

The key could be the audio feature that is now part of the VLA internal email. I recently heard an audio clip recorded by one of our teachers. She was replying to a student email asking for clarification on a question. The student was very confused, and the teacher would normally have typed several paragraphs to explain the concept.

Instead, the teacher clicked the Add Recording button and spoke as if she was speaking face-to-face with the student. What she had to say was interesting, informative, and easy to understand. I'm sure that the student was able to understand this method of explanation far better than he would have had the teacher typed the information. The audio can even be played multiple times if necessary.