Securing Trust, Roles and Communication in E-Advising – Theoretical Inputs

Abstract

Students claim to learn a lot from advising and feedback on assignments. This is one of the results in a survey amongst students at The Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Traditionally, advising is mainly a face‑to‑face activity. However, with an increasing number of courses offered online, it is timely to discuss how to conduct advising sessions online and using an online medium. The meeting between the student and advisor contains a number of factors; for example: eye contact, tone of voice and facial mimic. Many subtle features establish the relationship between the advisor and student. The student needs to communicate the assignment and to trust the advisor, at the other hand the advisor needs to be reassured that the student understand and trust the feedback. This paper discusses how written advising sessions can be undertaken using an online medium, and still maintain the roles, the trust and secure the communication.