What does teaching presence mean in an online course?
Teaching presence in an online course is about the students’ sense that you’re there in the course, and you’re a real person interacting with them.
Your teaching in a physical classroom involves more than just your content- you’re there to greet, challenge, coach, scold, inspire, remind and encourage students. In an online course, these factors are as important as in a classroom course - though they are accomplished differently. The most important thing is that you “feel” real to the students during the course.
As one professor summed up the idea, “prove you’re not a robot!”
Why should I care?
Your course isn’t just your content: it’s you creating an environment that fosters learning (just like you do in the classroom).
A little thought about presence makes the most efficient use of your teaching time, while increasing impact on students.
a. It can reduce student questions by providing context and setting the stage for lessons
b. With some planning, it is possible to do less while seeming more present and making an impact
Your presence increases student engagement, which leads to both learning and satisfaction.
How do I do it?
Many courses have a facilitation plan that faculty develop together with a School of Professional Studies instructional designer. Even when no formal plan is in place, the kinds of elements in such a plan boil down to a few simple ideas:
At the start of your course or your modules, be sure to introduce yourself to the students and tell them a bit about you. In the classroom, students get a sense of who you are as a person just from interacting with you, even on the very first day of class. Starting your course or modules off with a personal introduction (as opposed to a bio or a CV) can help students connect with you, the class and their classmates.
In the classroom, students see you walk in, hear you speak with one or more students, and then begin to address the class with “Good Morning, let’s get started!” or words to that effect. You can achieve this social (and, to some extent, logistical) connection online with a weekly written announcement to the class.
In your announcement, “speak” to your students like you would in the classroom. Tee up the week’s activities and key points. Recap the activity of the prior week, summarizing discussions and responding to what students have done. In addition to regular weekly announcements, you can use announcements at any time to redirect a discussion, or to respond to a question shared by many students.
While you’re at it, be sure to pay attention to your tone. We often write differently than we talk (for good reason). But remember that this periodic Announcement process is analogous to talking with students, say, at the start of class or during a lively class discussion. You might want to keep your tone more conversational here and save more formal language for the course content and grading.
As an alternative (or a complement) to writing, video can be a great tool for these weekly updates. A quick webcam recording can be less time-consuming than crafting a written message, if you’re so inclined. Panopto and Canvas provide ways to do this - see Record a Screencast or Record and Upload Media for instructions.
One way to show students that you’re involved is to grade student work, including some individualized feedback, promptly (whatever promptly means in the context of your course). Students learning remotely who don’t hear back when they reach out for help or when they submit work can feel isolated. The work goes up into Canvas and...crickets...
Your course may have student discussions as part of the design. You don’t have to respond to each and every student, but you can show that you’re involved by summarizing and/or responding to key points in the discussion tool, or in an announcement (which makes it stand out from student posts and is harder for students to miss).
