Tell students where to find announcements and communication guidelines that will be used throughout the semester. Get students into a habit of going to one location to find out important daily information. Set up communication procedures and guidelines.

The first week of class you may receive lots of startup questions from your students. You may want to start an FAQ where all questions are posted and you only need to answer in one place.

A problem with email communication, particularly during the first week, is that not all students may have registered. Those who register late will have no way to access class emails you have already sent. However, class announcements can be viewed at any time. A solution would be to email AND post announcements.

MSU Example:
MSU's LMS, ANGEL, provides instructors with several options for conveying timely class information to students. Announcements can be set to show up on the Welcome Page, reaching every student when they log in to the class. Announcements can have a start and end date, but also can be reviewed later from the In Touch page.