Team working and information sharing

Overview
Online students
Teamwork

It is also important to realise that boundaries include allowing for our own limits of responsibility and recognising when and how to involve others.

Supporting students with any disability issue can benefit at times from appropriate team-working, with teaching staff having confidence and knowledge about when to involve Student Support Services and other appropriate staff, and vice versa.

Any information sharing must be done with the agreement of the student, establishing clear lines about who shares any information and emphasising the requirement of strict confidentiality and data protection. You may also have to consider ages of students and parental consent.

The wellbeing of the student and or others

Students are often fine with appropriate knowledge sharing, if it has been explained to them properly, as part of a package of measures which are intended to benefit to them. However, we must never override the student’s wishes, unless there are genuine concerns for the wellbeing of the student and or others.

The principles outlined in Team working and information sharing are the same when dealing with online students. However, the extra dimension of being physically one-step removed adds another dimension to the systems designed to support those in need.

When dealing with online students, the usual visual and non-verbal clues and behaviours are not so easy to pick up. Concerns about a student’s welfare may arise from a variety of interactions used in the delivery of their course; use of the virtual learning environment’s tools e.g. discussion boards and chat rooms, email or Skype sessions. Any communication method used by the parties may give clues – but they can be harder to spot.

It is also important to recognise that these alternative interactions can either mask or amplify student distress.

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If further assistance is required with accessibility matters please contact the student support section in your academic partner UHI: Accessing learner support.

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