Supporting Distance Students by Phone

- Guidelines

Various authors

January 2013

Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2

One-to-one phone contact………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Group phone support…………………………………………………………………………………………………………10

Computer-based calling……………………………………………………………………………………………………13

Voicemail support………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..14

Phone support by subject……………………………………………………………………………………………….15

Coping with anger, dealing with distress……………………………………………………………………..20

Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………22

INTRODUCTION

Supporting distance students by phone is still a critically important area of work for distance tutors. Computer mediated communication is efficient on many occasions, but telephone contact can often be more immediate, solve problems more rapidly and be particularly reassuring. In addition access to phones including mobile phones is higher - much higher in developing countries - than access to computers and the internet. And proactive phone contact has been shown to have substantial a retention effects - see the paper 'The impact on retention of interventions to support distance learning students' on

But working on the ‘phone also presents particular challenges; a lack of any visual feedback and the consequent potential for misunderstandings, the need to respond to unexpected calls; the time involved in individual calls, and so on.

These guidelines are developed from UKOpen Universityexperience in using the phone for distance student support. Whilst some of the material in it refers to that experience it is hoped that it may be useful to anyone involved in student support whether tutors, advisors or managers.

Acknowledgements

This guide was adapted from writings by UKOU colleagues Anne Gaskell,

Lesley Holland, Sally Jordan,Lilian McCoy,Kathy McVittie,Patricia Meakin,Sandra Neill,Richard Peoples,Ormond Simpson, Jane Spirit,Anne Overell and Judith George.


1. ONE TO ONEPHONE CONTACT

Phone contact encompasses everything from an introductory welcoming phone call, to brief calls to clarify the date of the next assignment,to pre-arranged discussions of a current module. As with other forms of tutoring, establishing clear expectations from the start will allow both student and tutor to make the best use of their time.

Proactivecontact - as suggested earlier there is considerable evidence to show that proactive phone support (where the tutor takes the intuitive to contact a student) has marked retention effects. But of course individual contact is expensive in terms of tutor time so calls should be designed to be as effective as possible. The suggestions below are designed to that end.

1.1 Initial Contact

An introductory letteror emailto new students is a good place to clarify your phone expectations. You could, for example, say that you welcome contact from students by phone, stating clearly any times which are off limits and suggesting good times for them to call.

It may be useful to ask students to reciprocate, telling you when their good and bad times to receive calls are. In addition, consider investing in an answering machine or voicemail service if you don’t already have one and compose a friendly welcoming message for this.

1.1.1 The first phone call. A good model for the first ever call to a student could be the Boniwell nine point ‘Strengths’ plan described in the article 'Motivating learners in open and distance learning: do we need a new theory of student support?'on the website The points are:

(1) Emphasise the positive during initial contact.

(2) Focus on existing assets and competencies.

(3) Draw out past successes and high point moments.

(4) Encourage ‘positive affect’ (hope and elevated thoughts).

(5) Identify underlying values, goals and motivation.

(6) Encourage narration (telling their life story, putting life in perspective, making sense of it).

(7) Identify resources, protective factors and potentials of learners.

(8) Validate effort rather than achievement.

(9) ONLY THEN, if possible, talk about uncertainties, fears, lack of skills (Boniwell, 2003).

1.2. Ongoing Contact

Once you are on the ‘phone to a student there are further agenda setting issues to bear in mind. Many of these relate to the increased likelihood of mismatching perceptions between tutors’ and students’ perceptions when there is an inevitable lack of visual feedback. These mismatches may concern general matters such as expectations of the tutor-student’s role, or more specific difficulties, for example with interpreting pauses and estimating thinking time. They may also be course related, perhaps to do with the ambiguity of the relevant academic language.

The following are some suggestions for good practice, which will help to minimise such mismatches

  1. As always, establish boundaries. A tutorial by telephone will be more productive if the tutor and the student both know in advance what is to be discussed. Ifa call may has been planned in advance, it is possible to reach a prior agreement with the student about what will be discussed and what materials you will both need. You may find the questionnaire in Appendix 1 usefulfor clarifying mutual expectations of preparation and participation.
  1. Make sure that you know what the student’s difficulty really is. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a student has the same problem as those who attended the last tutorial – this is likely, but not inevitable.
  1. Make sure that the student does most of the work!Avoid falling into the trap of just telling a student how to solve a problem. Even if you ask the student 'Do you understand?' they are likely to say yes to please you - and even if they understand at the time, they are more likely to be able to solve a similar problem later if they have worked through the problem for themselves. As with any sort of telephone tuition, make sure that you have a conversation with the student.
  1. If possible, get them to participate actively by writing down points. Make sure that the student has plenty of paper to hand, and something to write with. It can also be helpful for you, the tutor, to write points down as you go along so that you and the student are working together in much the same way as you would if the discussion was taking place face to face.

If there is a practical reason why the student is not able to write things down at the same time as talking on the phone (e.g. a student who only has the use of one arm) it might be worth investigating alternative technologies e.g. a loudspeaker phone, or arranging a face-to- face meeting.

With all students, be prepared to suggest that they put the phone down for a few minutes to enable them to write more easily. And remember that, whereas you are probably used to holding the telephone receiver in your non-writing hand, this practice may be unfamiliar to the student and may take some getting used to.

  1. Refer to written material whenever possible. Very often a student will ring with a very specific query from the course material. Unless you are extremely familiar with this part of the course, or have answered the same query many times before (which you may have done!) it is probably best to have the same material open in front of youso that you can check the context of the student's query.

When the student has rung with a less specific problem, or in the case of a telephone tutorial set up to help a student with a previously identified difficulty, it is still helpful if both parties can have some appropriate written material to refer to.

It is important that you and the student are both looking at copies of exactly the same thing, otherwise confusion can easily creep in. If you send sheets of points or examples to the student in advance it is helpful to number the pages and/or the individual items.

  1. Keep it as short as possible. Be aware that doing academic work on the telephone is demanding and both tutor and student will tire more quickly than in a face-to-face session. Be realistic about how much you can cover and take a break if either you or the student needs it. It is a good idea to check with the student fairly often and to be aware of your own needs in this respect.
  1. Be comfortable with pauses. Tutors sometimes feel concerned if there is silence on the other end of the telephone, but remember that pauses give useful time to think so long as both parties are aware of what is going on. If the student seems to be quiet more often or for longer than you expect, just check with them by a phrase such as ‘I’m not sure whether you are quiet because you are thinking, or because you don’t understand.’ Likewise be explicit about your pauses.

Tell the student you are going to pause for a minute if you need to think aboutsomething they’ve asked. If you don’t know the answer, don’t worry. You may need time to consult materials and can always arrange another call for later.

  1. Encourage feedback throughout the session to compensate for the lack of visual cues. Encourage students to tell you when there is something they do not understand and to tell you when they have understood or when something is helpful.
  1. Offer some review of learning. You and the student will find it helpful to end with some kind of summary of the ground covered. You may find that this review of points raised leads naturally into setting an agenda for subsequent tutorials. You could supply students with a form such as Appendix 1 and suggest they use it to think about their learning during the ‘phone session.

1.3. Other Issues in One-To-One Calls

1.3.1. Scheduled Calls initiated by the Tutor

It’s a good idea to have a rough schedule of follow-up calls to the initial call. The frequency will depend on the course schedule - for instance every two to three weeks, depending the tutor’s availability.

Booked calls - some tutors prefer to book calls for a particular day and time.

Personably I find that students often tend to forget their appointment which can lead to frustration on both sides. It may be better to just schedule a general timesuch as - for example - the last Friday evening of the month or every second Sundaymorning etc depending on the student’s schedule.

Unscheduled calls run the risk of not finding the student in, or catching them at a difficult moment or unprepared. Always start by asking if this is a convenient time for a quick chat and be happy to call back. Unscheduled calls are best made for the purpose of motivating students’ learning rather than trying to deal with course issues.

An unscheduled call could start with ‘Hi there. I just thought I’d phone to see how you’re getting on’ but should then proceed to more specific questionslike ‘Where have you got to in the course materials?’ or ‘How far have you got with the next assignment?’.

Voicemail - if you get through to a voicemail then always leave a brief message. For many students just knowing their tutor is interested can act as a remotivator.

1.3.2. Receiving an unexpected call. One difficulty here is that you may have to make quick decisions about the student’s motivation for contacting you. It is a very common experience to find that whilst a student has ostensibly called with one query, this is in fact a preliminary to raising a much more difficult issue with you, the tutor. Once you have become aware of this, unless you feel confident about dealing with the problem there and then, you may want to arrange to call the student back to give yourself time to think and to consult ifnecessary.

1.3.3 Hidden Agendas. Some of the most difficult calls to respond to are those where the student does not know or cannot articulate what their problem is:

They might start by saying: ‘I just don’t know where to start with this assignment/section/ module/ course.’ One response might be to summarise for the student what the key points are, and this ‘rescue’ may be just what is needed to begin with. It is still useful, however, to involve the student actively, for example by asking them to identify/remember one detail from the relevant course book which you can then ask them to link to other examples or aspects of the study material. After discussion, they should be able to provide you with a short summary of essential points in their own words.

Occasionally, students may misunderstand your role and expect you to listen as a personal rather than academic counsellor. For more on dealing with angry or distressed calls and on hidden agendas of distress, please see later in this pack.

1.4Evaluation and Reflection by both Student and Tutor

To state the obvious, telephone work is all about dialogue and some dialogues are easier than others. While there may be things we can do to improve the phone aspects of our work, the results of these efforts can still seem disappointing. It’s worth reminding ourselves that most students feel enormously encouraged by talking directly to their tutors, whatever the actual content or final outcome of that contact. We may well find that their perception of the value of the call far exceeds ours.

Perhaps this is because the contact has helped to change their approach to study or made study easier by boosting their confidence and feelings of self-worth. We know that there are close links between these feelings and the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. You simply cannot learn if you aren’t in the right frame of mind to do so. A couple of instances from a tutor’s recent past are typical:

i. The tutor’s feelings

‘A student had arranged to call in advance at a weekend. I had had an incredibly hectic week and was conscious of being tired. By the time they rang I felt ill, but didn’t like to ask them to rearrange the call. This was a weak student who might interpret my response as a brush off. The call did not seem to be beneficial to either of us. Afterwards I wish that I had called the student earlier to explain how ill I felt and to rearrange the call. It really is very hard to pick up aural cues and explain things clearly on the phone when you’re befuddled through exhaustion.’

ii. The student’s feelings?

‘I timed my next call to coincide with the student having recently received an assignment back. The mark had been poor. During the call we spent a lot of time going over the previous assignment and I felt that the student was preoccupied by the result and really not able to take in what we were meant to be discussing. Afterwards I realised that it would have been better to make a short earlier call to clear the air about the low grade before phoning for a teaching session. The thing is, I’m still not sure exactly what was going on in the student’s mind’.

These particular experiences highlight:

  • The difficulty of knowing how any phone contact has gone from the student’s perspective. A student may say that a telephone session has been useful out of politeness, or perhaps embarrassment, when it has not been so.

This in turn makes it difficult to improve the tutoring despite realising that

  • It would be useful if the student and we could learn effectively from our experience.

One way out of this is to treat the phone tutorial as a process rather than a finite event. Depending on whether the call is planned or spontaneous, different aspects of the resulting cycle of action and reflection could be useful in making the best use of telephone time.

The sample forms included in Appendix 1 were designed to encourage students to consolidate their own learning before, during and after a call and to provide tutors with useful feedback. There are some prompts to aid tutor’s reflections in Appendix 2.

Appendix 3 provides a useful guide for students preparing to take part in telephone tuition which could be sent to students before phone contact starts.

2GROUP PHONE SUPPORT

There are several ways in which the phone can be used to support and teach groups of students.

2.1Three Way Calls

The simplest to set up is a ‘threeway call’ which allows a tutor to talk with two students at once. The usual set up in most phone systems is:

  1. A dials B
  2. When B answers, A presses Recall to put B on hold.
  3. A dials C
  4. When C answers, A presses recall again
  5. A then presses ‘3’ to link all three phones together.

The small extra cost is borne by A.

2.2. Audio Conference Calls

Conference calls involve more than three people linked by phone (sometimes known as audio conferencing or teleconferencing). The most common arrangement is to have a tutor or adviser linked separately to students at different locations.

Student

Tutor