{"id":489,"date":"2022-07-25T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T12:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/35.72.163.191\/?p=489"},"modified":"2025-02-20T05:17:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T05:17:36","slug":"discovering-effective-ways-of-engaging-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cialfo.co\/blog\/discovering-effective-ways-of-engaging-students","title":{"rendered":"Discovering effective ways of engaging students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From whiteboards and social media messages to personal discussions, we look at ways in which students prefer to communicate with counselors and admission representatives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficient communication with students is a vital component of any counselor\u2019s job. For a number of reasons, though, from lack of time to student reluctance, it can be quite a challenge. Fortunately there are some extremely useful tools that can help you improve student engagement and make the most out of your communication with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do students prefer to communicate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Students express a broad mix of preferences when it comes to methods of communication, so it can be a good idea to make the extra effort and use multiple channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korean school Branksome Hall Asia<\/strong> surveyed its Grade 10 to 12 students in 2022 about how they preferred to communicate with both university counselors and admissions representatives. The aim was to look beyond emails as the sole communication channel. As far as email is concerned, most students considered emails from university counselors to be more helpful (89 percent) than those from admission representatives (70 percent).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, students still prefer to meet counselors personally in one on one meetings. With admissions representatives, almost a quarter of students preferred email, followed by virtual meetings, while one on one meetings were far less popular. Download the report at the bottom of this article for the full set of data and suggestions from the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What students think about email as a means of communication<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Barriers to effective communication between counselors and students<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By far the biggest issue preventing counselors and students from interacting was scheduling conflicts, according to the survey. Emotional factors including anxiety, fear of judgment, introversion, and either not knowing what to ask or having doubts about the validity of questions together accounted for about 20 percent; while language barriers were an issue for about 10 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can counselors use Cialfo to engage students and save time?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cialfo is the ideal tool for counselors to foster more effective communication with their students. Its Meetings<\/strong> feature allows students to check counselors\u2019 calendars and schedule meetings with them. Cialfo is also an excellent way of tracking student activity<\/a>, providing a convenient interface that allows counselors to see at a glance which students have read and received the messages they\u2019ve sent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing able to utilize some of the functions that Cialfo has in order to track activity within the platform is really useful,\u201d says Francis Miller<\/strong>, Director of College Counseling at Xi\u2019an Tie Yi High School<\/strong> in China. \u201cIt can show us which students have been using it and which students we need to push more forcefully to develop those better habits of use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cialfo’s Student Notes<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>for counselors is equally handy, allowing them to access a whole range of resources related to a particular student in the same place: personal statements, CVs, test schedules, activities undertaken in class and course selections, along with links to important documents. Miller added that Cialfo has been particularly helpful to monitor the process of providing students with letters of recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe have a contract that our students read and sign when they request a letter from a teacher. Cialfo is able to mesh with that kind of policy and workflow process. So, we require our students to request their letters of recommendation from their teachers through Cialfo, which is also conveniently able to limit the number of letters that students can request. I know some of our teachers have  appreciated it as a tool; it\u2019s helped them communicate with students.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Francis Miller<\/strong>, Director of College Counseling at Xi\u2019an Tie Yi High School, China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other tools for improving student engagement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are several other useful resources that counselors can deploy to improve student communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For International Baccalaureate students, there\u2019s the advisory tab of the ManageBac platform, split into two sections, one aimed at teachers and the other at the student. Some schools also use tools such as Google Classroom to disseminate useful materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says Kelley Christman<\/strong>, University Counselor at Branksome Hall Asia<\/strong>, \u201cIt\u2019s about having a centralized location for them to access the resources that we would like for them to use when they are doing university counseling activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Christman created a video showing students how to fill out a UCAS application, while a colleague created one about how to fill out the Common Application and link it to Cialfo. Both were uploaded to Google Classroom so that all students could access them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200dRobbie Shields<\/strong>, American Principal and former Director of College Counseling, Shanghai Qibao Dwight and Dwight School<\/strong>, says his school has adopted OneNote Classroom, which offers many of the same features as Google Classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFrom the perspective of visual learners, we have to find the ways we can best communicate messages with them that are going to be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Robbie Shields, American Principal and former Director of College Counseling, Shanghai Qibao Dwight and Dwight School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school also has its own SharePoint site, established after the school leaders realized that a lot of information had to be sent out repeatedly.  All students are allowed to access that information, watch videos and schedule meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four pillars for counselor-student communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you\u2019re drawing on all the available resources when it comes to maximizing your engagement with students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow an effective counseling curriculum<\/h4>\n\n\n\n