Asking Questions: Getting the answers you need quickly

I can pretty much guarantee that at some point during your online learning experience you are going to have a question you need answered. And if you are like me, you will have about a dozen questions a week! One key to learning online successfully is not being afraid to ask questions. And to ensure you get the answer you want quickly, I have a few tips.

First, ask good questions - and by this I don't mean that you shouldn't ask silly questions. As the instructors remind me every time I start a question with, "This may be a silly question...", there are no silly questions. What I mean is to ask questions that will get you the answer you need in the least amount of time.

For example, "I'm having problems. Can anyone help me?" Is not a good question. Your question will be most likely answered with, "What problems are you having?" If it took an hour to get that response and another hour for you to respond, and then another hour to get another response then you have waited three hours you didn't need to wait for a response to a question.

To ask good questions, give the people who are going to try to answer you as much information as you can. Too much information about the problem you are having is a whole lot better than not enough. Describe what you were doing when you encountered the problem. Describe the results. Give any error messages. Tell them what else you tried. If you were following an example in the book or on a web site give the page or URL so they can try it to. If you have a file where they can see the problem, upload the file. The more information they have the more likely it will be that they can answer your question on the first try.

Second, post the question to the right place. I don't know if you have as much problem with email as I have, but my good email seems to go to spam and my spam to my inbox. Your email to your instructor may meet with the same fate and she will never see your question. If you post your message in the classroom your instructor will see it the next time she logs in. And if your instructor is like most of mine, she will be subscribed to the Question and Comments discussions so the questions are emailed to her and she can respond to you as soon as possible.

Notice that there is a Questions and Comments forum in each lesson. If you have questions about the project for Lesson 3, post your question in the Questions forum for Lesson 3. Also, you may want to check to make sure your classmates have not already asked the same question. It really will be a silly question if you are the second person to ask the same question!

Finally, take a break. Once your question is posted, move on. Find something else to do while your question is doing the work of waiting for an answer for you. Just like a watched pot never boils, a watched question does not get answered - or at least it seems like it takes a lot longer. I have found that if I am struggling with how to make something work, just taking a break for a while allows me to come back with a fresh perspective and I find the answer to my own question. If no one has answered my question then I will post what I found so no one will spend time trying to answer a question I don't need answered any more.

Want another tip about asking questions? A good, thought-provoking question is a great way to stimulate a discussion and a good discussion makes it easy to meet your participation requirement each week.

posted by Peabody McGillicutty @ 12:31 PM