Instructor Presence - The Key to Success

Instructor presence in an online course is one of the strongest factors cited for contributing to student success. But what is meant by presence and how can you achieve it? There are many forms of "presence" an instructor may have in a course but we will focus on two: social presence and teaching presence.

• See Tools and Behaviors for Achieving Instructor Presence

  Tools and behaviors to achieve a social presence in your course:

  • Introductions in the first week:
    • Fill out your Profile page in eLearning and encourage your students to do the same
    • Make use of "ice breaker" activities
    • Welcome letter or News item
  • A special discussion thread or forum for informal exchanges:
    • This can be used for Ice breakers as well as "Open Mic" or general non-course related discussions
    • Willing to think aloud about why you think what you do - share your passion!
  • Showing respect and care for others:
    • Model the "netiquette" you expect from your students

  Tools and behaviors to achieve a teaching presence in your course:

  • Set clear expectations for students with specifics about how learners are to be 'present'
  • Be present in the course site every day if possible or substantively present at least four times a week.
  • Coach and guide learners to keep pace and think deeply about what they know and why they know it
  • Encourage questions regarding activities, assignments, etc.
  • Restate assignments, pacing on assignments
  • Help students not to be surprised by course requirements and events
  • Use announcement tools to ensure students are aware of changes
  • Use email for private correspondence and gentle or firm guidance as might be needed

Successful online instructors maintain a visible presence throughout the duration of the course by communicating, interacting, motivating, and supporting online students.*

Follow the links in this section to learn strategies to help you:

• promote active learning

  ↓ Download Module - Promote Active Learning - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors challenge their students' thinking and foster active, constructive participation in learning.

  Here are some strategies to promote active learning:

  • Emphasize the importance of learning by playing an active role in the learning process, not from direct instruction or lecture as in a traditional classroom.
  • Provide opportunities for the students to critically critique and/or reflect upon certain course topics.
  • Encourage your students to use the Internet for researching on course topics; however, remind them to be critical about the information they will share with peers.
  • Encourage your students to be proactive in their learning by doing the following:
    • Regularly logging into course site
    • Submitting assignments on time
    • Completing quizzes within required timeframe
    • Reading messages posted and replying within required timeframe
    • Cooperating with teammates, etc.

  • Provide opportunities for your students to be actively involved in information seeking and problem solving.
  • Provide opportunities for your students to interact, to collaborate, or to review a peer's work.
  • Encourage your students to participate in online discussions actively by:
    • Designing thought-provoking discussion questions: see Crafting Questions for Online Discussions
    • Encouraging students to respond to questions at a deeper level
    • Using discussion forums effectively by posting "messages that weave several strands of conversation into a summarization that may prompt people to pursue the topic further" (Berge, 1995)
    • Pointing out "opposing perspectives, different directions, or conflicting opinions" (Berge, 1995)
  • Use different discussion formats listed below to cultivate students' critical thinking (MacKnight 2000, p40.):
    • Small group discussions
    • Buzz group: two people discussing for a short period of time
    • Case discussions using real-world problems for analysis and suggested solutions
    • Debating teams wherein students present ideas, defend positions, and argue against opposition's reasoning
    • Jigsaw groups where subgroups discuss various parts of a topic and report to the others
    • Role play mocking real settings
  • For more information about facilitating online discussions, please see Ten Tips for Generating Engaged Online Discussions by Donna Reiss.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 24). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Promote Active Learning. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m14977/1.2/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• model effective online interaction

  ↓ Download Module - Effective Online Interaction - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors provide a good role model for active participation and interact frequently with their students to create a sense of learning community.

  Here are some strategies for modeling effective interaction:

  • Respond to student comments or questions within time frames set at beginning of the course
  • If circumstances require you to change the time frame for responses, notify students beforehand and provide new time frames.
  • If you will be unavailable for some period during the semester (i.e., traveling), notify students beforehand.
  • Provide general feedback to the entire class on specific assignments or discussions.
  • Provide specific encouragement and comments to students who have completed assignments.
  • Provide meaningful feedback on graded assignments with recognition of good work as well as specific suggestions for improvement.
  • Provide a weekly "wrap up" before the next lesson begins.
  • Introduce a new week with an overview (including deadlines) of what is coming up.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 20). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Model Effective Online Interaction. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15030/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• monitor student progress and encourage lagging students

  ↓ Download Module - Monitor Student Progress - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  While recognizing different student learning styles, instructors monitor student progress, identify lagging students, and help them minimize their procrastination through appropriate monitoring and encouragement.

  Here are some strategies for monitoring student progress:

  • Be aware that students who fall behind are in jeopardy of not completing the course within the same semester of enrollment. This may endanger student financial aid for the following semester, or student reimbursement of tuition if the student is receiving funds from a third party (such as an employer).
  • Many Course Management Systems have tools to track student progress in course activities (e.g. the WhoDunIt Agent in ANGEL allows an instructor to track students' progress in course activities).
  • Contact students who haven't logged in for over a week to inquire whether they're experiencing technical difficulties or problems with course content, team communications, etc.
  • If students cannot participate due to technical problems, connect them immediately to get technical help.
  • Contact students who have not completed assignments by email or phone.
  • Send a weekly email summarizing course activities as a general reminder to the whole class near the end of the week.
  • Introduce a new week with an overview of upcoming events and deadlines.
  • Include flexibility in grading if possible (e.g. Allow students to drop lowest grade; Give choices for when students can complete assignments (e.g. Pick 2 out of 5, etc.)
  • Differentiate lurking learners from lagging students.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 27). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Monitor Student Progress and Encourage Lagging Students. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15059/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• assess messages in online discussions

  ↓Download Module - Assess Online Discussions - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Assessing students' messages in online discussions encourages their participation and hopefully helps improve the quality of discussion as well. Set specific assessment criteria and make the criteria available to students in the beginning of the course.

  Here are some strategies for assessing online discussions:

  • Include the assessment criteria for online discussions within one or more locations:
    • The course syllabus
    • A course announcement prior to the first online discussion task
    • The instructions for the discussion task
  • Make sure the assessment criteria measure both the quantity and quality of the online messages.
  • When designing a rubric for assessing online discussions, consider assigning some points to encourage posting.
  • Make use of sample rubrics from literature:
    • See an example of Edelstein & Edwards' (2002) Assessing Effectiveness of Student Participation in Online Discussions. This rubric considers five categories that are important for building a learning community: promptness and initiative, delivery of post, relevance of post, expression within the post, and contribution to the learning community.
    • Garrison's, et al. (2001) Cognitive Processing Categories. May be useful when assessing the quality of postings: (1) triggering (questioning); (2) exploration (information seeking and sharing), (3) integration (providing solution), and (4) solution (testing solutions)
    • See example of Kleinman's (2005) Grading Rubric for Online Discussion Participation. Provides detailed grading criteria.
    • Dringus & Ellis' (2005) Assessment of Student Progress in Forums
  • For more information about facilitating online discussions, please see Ten Tips for Generating Engaged Online Discussions by Donna Reiss.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 21). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Assess Messages in Online Discussions. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15035/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• sustain students' motivation

  ↓ Download Module -Sustain Students' Motivation - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  • Provide opportunities for student collaboration and facilitate their collaborative learning processes.
  • Provide opportunities for students to collaborate through online collaboration tools such as Breeze.
  • Choose the right tone of conversation in online communication to make students feel comfortable with the learning environment, to establish trust in communication, and to reduce feelings of isolation and enhance a sense of community
  • Provide meaningful feedback on graded assignments with recognition of good work as well as specific suggestions for improvement (See Example when you download the PDF Module above.)
  • Provide a weekly “wrap up” before the next lesson begins
  • Take an active role in helping your students think and learn actively through careful task structuring, questioning, and scaffolding.
  • In online discussions, consider:
    • Designing thought-provoking questions to elicit student discussions on the topics of your focus: see Crafting Questions for Online Discussions from Instructional Technology Services at Penn State
    • Providing a weekly summary of discussion topics to demonstrate your participation
    • Redirecting off-topic discussion through gentle reminders or a recast of the question
    • Assessing messages by both quantity and quality (For more information about assessing online messages, please see Assessing Messages in Online Discussion module)

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 22). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Sustain Students' Motivation. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15040/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• provide feedback and support

  ↓ Download Module - Provide Feedback and Support - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors provide timely, quality, and appropriate feedback to support and facilitate students' learning process.

  • Encourage students to articulate their confusion or difficulty with course content, projects, requirements, or instructions for activities
  • Provide meaningful feedback on graded assignments with recognition of good work as well as specific suggestions for improvement
  • Respond to students' concerns or technical difficulties quickly and provide contact information of tech support
  • Peer assessment can provide additional feedback opportunity while reducing faculty workload (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p.122).
  • In online discussions, your students will feel motivated to participate and learn when you:
    • Encourage openness in online discussions or collaborative assignment and allow different opinions to exist
    • Diagnose misconception without delay to avoid further misunderstanding or confusion, but explain with background information
    • Provide timely feedback to comment, confirm, evaluate, or to question
    • Provide additional important resources for further study
    • Use gentle reminders to carry the discussion further or redirect discussions
    • Encourage your students to use examples, real cases, or literature to support their views
    • See Anderson et. al (2001) Coding Scheme for Facilitating Discussions for more suggestions

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 28). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Provide Feedback and Support. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15038/1.4/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• encourage students to regulate their own learning

  ↓ Download Module - Encourage Student Regulated Learning - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors provide support and guidance to encourage students to become self-regulated learners.

  • Encourage students to become "process managers" in the online course by giving up some traditional power role as teachers (Palloff & Pratt, 2001)
  • Include an introductory survey with questions on student expectations for the course.
  • Direct students to take turns leading/moderating online discussions.
  • Demonstrate support for student learning by engaging them to reflect on their online learning experiences.
  • Encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning as well as their peers' by completing readings and posting meaningful course-related discussions.
  • Ask students to self-assess their learning and progress and to post questions to discussion forums or seek help when necessary.
  • Provide an opportunity for peer review.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 20). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Encourage Students to Regulate Their Own Learning. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m14970/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• recognize the impact of multiculturalism

  ↓ Download Module - The Impact of Multiculturalism

  Cultural inhibitions that we may experience when personally interacting with people are mostly absent in the text-based communication of online education. However, effective online instructors should manage the cultural-based differences in online classrooms, and cultivate cultural sensitivity and awareness in a globalized e-learning system through the appropriate uses of various learning technologies.

  • Use non-discriminatory language and avoid words that may cause adverse reactions.
  • Be aware that multiculturalism/cultural diversity does not only exist in nationality or ethnicity, but in other aspects as well, such as generation, religion or political belief, or regions within one country.
  • When teaching topics in social studies, global education, or any learning about the world and its peoples, Merryfield (2003) finds these online teaching strategies useful:
    • Reflect on one's cultural background and experience
    • For difficult, emotional, or controversial topics, use chats or threaded discussions and make the discussion activities optional
    • Provide updated knowledge about the world and its people
    • For topics that you want the whole class to think about, use listserv discussions and do not require length or depth
    • Use threaded discussions to invite extended feedback, suggestions, new resources that help students to improve their posted work
  • If possible, mix students from different countries/areas or those with different backgrounds when forming student teams to encourage better cross-cultural exchanges and diverse perspectives (Ko & Rossen, 2004).
  • Provide selected high-quality resources for conflicting perspectives.
  • Attend to the learning differences (such as motivation or perceptions of interaction and/or team collaboration) demonstrated by students from different cultural backgrounds; provide appropriate supports when you suspect any culture-related factor may have negatively affected your students' online learning experience. (see McGee's discussion of differences between Collective and Individualistic Cultures - http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/MAR02_Issue/article03.html.)
  • When necessary, use your teaching assistants as cultural consultants if they share the same cultural backgrounds with some of the students.
  • Join professional communities or conferences to experience diverse experiences, backgrounds, and connections to a global society directly.

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 22). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Understand the Impact of Multiculturalism. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15041/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

   

• deal with conflicts promptly

  ↓ Download Module - Deal with Conflicts Promptly - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors deal with conflicts promptly to minimize student distractions.

  • Provide Netiquette guidelines (See Example 1 in PDF download)
  • Observe but avoid initial involvement early in a conflict; intervene only when the conflicts intensify to allow students to work through the issues on their own (Palloff & Pratt, 2001)
  • When a conflict surfaces, welcome it and view it as a sign that a group is developing (Palloff & Pratt, 2001)
  • Communicate privately with students who are posting inappropriately
  • Include a regular mechanism for peer evaluation for group projects so students can communicate to you the group's functioning (See Example 2 in PDF download)
  • Contact your college or administrative staff when you suspect any student's violation of academic integrity; Make sure not to assign any academic sanctions before going through the formal academic integrity process, so they do not violate the student's due process and University policy
  • For serious student problems, contact your college or institution for institutional support

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 28). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Deal With Conflicts Promptly. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15042/1.2/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource .

   

• use evaluation data

  ↓ Download Module - Use Evaluation Data - includes examples and ideas you may use in your online course

  Effective online instructors conduct course evaluation during teaching and use the evaluation data to improve their teaching or for future course improvement.

  • Set aside a discussion board in the course site soliciting (anonymous) feedback on the course and respond publicly to feedback
  • Incorporate student course evaluation data into your teaching
  • Encourage and reward students to report substantive errors in the course (Ragan & Terheggen, 2003) (See Example 1 in PDF download)
  • Complete faculty evaluations to provide feedback for future course redesign if there is any (See Example 2 in PDF download)

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  *Ragan, L. (2007, August 22). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Use Evaluation Data. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15043/1.1/

  This work is licensed by Larry Ragan under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource .

   

*Ragan, L. (2007, August 27). Best Practices in Online Teaching - During Teaching - Introduction. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m14943/1.5/