Experiencing Email Overload from Students? Using a Discussion Board and a Set Schedule Can Help!

After the past year of remote teaching and learning, the often-blurred boundaries between work and life have become even fuzzier. Many faculty have experienced an uptick in emails and fear that students have begun to expect near-instantaneous responses to their questions. One way to prevent email overload and manage student expectations is by being proactive and communicating our availability up-front and often. When done with the right tone and intention, the process can reassure students that a response to their question is imminent.

One strategy that can have the added benefit of reducing questions and increasing peer-to-peer support is to create a discussion board forum in Blackboard called Instructor’s Office or Course Questions.

You will want to explain to students that this is the place to post any questions about the course, whether it’s about content or an assignment. Encourage students to use this space to ask questions because their peers in class likely have the same questions and will benefit when everyone can see all the questions and answers. The only time a student should contact you privately is when the question concerns a grade, or another confidential matter.

If a student sends you a question by email, respond “What a great question! I’m going to respond in the Instructor’s Office forum so everyone can see my response.” When posting the question, start with “This question came to me via email, but I am answering it here so you all can benefit.” After this happens a few times, students will quickly catch on.

You will also want to make it clear to students when they can expect you to access the discussion forum, so they can anticipate your response time. For example, in the syllabus you might indicate that you’ll check the discussion forum daily in the morning, evening, or simply on weekdays. If you allow subscriptions to the discussion board, students can opt-in to receive an email notification when new questions and answers are posted.

Other faculty have found it useful to share their availability with students in broad strokes, using a table. For example:

If the box is checked, it reassures students that at some point during that time frame, you plan to address questions posted in the Instructor’s Office forum. Of course, you might log in more frequently, but should make certain to also check during the times that were communicated to students.

The system works well for many faculty – students know when they post a question how long to expect before checking back. Students will even begin to answer each other's questions and then all you need to do is confirm that they are on the right track! In practice, each login often takes only a few minutes, because there are relatively few questions each time.