Creating a Sense of Instructor Presence in the Online Classroom

Students need to see “evidence of engagement” and instructors need to show that they are active in the online classroom. Teachers should create a "sense of instructor presence" in the online classroom to effectively manage an online teaching and learning environment. Online teaching is not just "assigning" what the students should do at home but the teacher should "design" the activities to maximize the engagement of the students in the learning process with their teacher and classmates. If the students experience doing activities knowing that their teacher is ready to assist them, they will actively perform the learning tasks.

Here are some practices that promote instructor presence that I learned from “The Foundations for Excellence in Teaching Online” hosted by Arizona State University Continuing Professional Education (ASU-CPE):

• Sending out welcome letters
• Posting announcements
• Highlighting connections between course content, activities, and assignments
• Facilitating in-depth thinking through online discussions
• Providing detailed specific feedback
• Reaching out to struggling students and conducting consultations
• Making connections to real world applications and providing clarification when needed.

Some Engagement Strategies on Remote Teaching & Learning Using Canvas & Digital Tools

1.    Self- Introduction  - You need to know your students and the students need to know their online classmates too. You may do any of the following:

a)    Assignment @ Canvas or Google Form  - Require them to submit a one PPT slide (provide template) with their photo with self-introduction and expectations from the course. Share at FILES in Canvas.

b)    Conference @ Canvas – Conduct a conference where each student introduces himself or you may also display the file submitted by the students.

2.    Syllabus Quiz  - A syllabus quiz is a strategy to ensure the key concepts of your syllabus uploaded in Canvas or presented during the Orientation are understood by your students. You can require the student to answer a Syllabus Quiz using Quizzes @ Canvas or Google Form. Possible questions will be (a) what are the course learning outcomes, (b) What are the course requirements, (c) How will the final grade be computed, (d) What are the pre-requisite knowledge for the course

3.    Post-Lecture Survey -  After an online lecture, require the students to submit an Assignment @ Canvas or at Google Form where they answer the ff questions: (a) What is the “muddiest” or most confusing topic in the lecture? and (b) What is the most interesting topic?. Based on the survey, you may provide follow-up lectures online by Conference @ Canvas or through Discussions @ Canvas.

4.    Practice Quiz @ Canvas or Google Form-  A practice quiz will serve as a reviewer before the actual quiz. It also familiarizes them on the Canvas platform for quizzes. From the results of the practice quiz, the teacher can determine the common mistakes and then provide feedback to the students.

5.    Discussions @ Canvas – You can open a discussion about a problem or issue and ask students to reply. The students can read the replies of their classmates and the teacher can also comment on some replies. Just like in face-to-face, the teacher can reply directly to the student by mentioning the name in the reply.

6.    PPT with Audio – You can prepare your PPT slides and add audio per slide. You can share the PPT with Audio at Files @ Canvas. You can even convert the PPT with Audio into a video and upload at YouTube (but YT has size limitation for upload). This is an alternative to a recorded online lecture using Conferences @ Canvas. This will be useful in asynchronous learning for the students.

HOW DO I GET STUDENTS TO ENGAGE WITH THESE ACTIVITIES?

 (Ref. asuce.instructure.com)

1. Consider adding “low point incentives” (perhaps 1 point or 1 percent per activity) as an extrinsic motivator
2. Instructors can set “Canvas requirements” to require students to accomplish the activity before advancing into the next module or before they can open an Assignment, File or a Quiz.
3. Consider attaching eligibility for “grade bumps,” such as rounding or adding a value to the general average to get a higher final grade if they accomplish all or a majority of the activities. Example: A general average of 59.0 has final grade of 0.0, but will be bumped to 60.0 and the student will get a final grade of 1.0.

NOTES FROM “FOUNDATIONS FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING ONLINE” - Module 0

 

The “New Normal” on the delivery and conduct of teaching and learning in universities may be a fully online classroom environment while community quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic is imposed. Hence, faculty members must learn new skills and adapt to the online platform to successfully deliver their courses and effectively assess students’ performance and achievement of learning outcomes. Free online courses hosted by universities such as Arizona State University Continuing Professional Education (ASU-CPE) are readily available and must be taken advantage of by the faculty. 

“The Foundations for Excellence in Teaching Online” hosted by Arizona State University Continuing Professional Education (ASU-CPE) is a self-paced learning course designed to share strategies for designing and teaching online courses. ASU uses Canvas as their Learning Management System (LMS). Hence, some of the tools of Canvas are used in this course. All assignments are optional in this experience. If you choose to participate, assignments are submitted to the designated area of Canvas. This course has optional activities that will not be graded but required for completion. This course uses discussions called "Community Forums" for comments and discussion about the course topics. Participants are encouraged to respond to the posts of other participants, but participation is completely optional. Participants submit assignments so that he/she can read the submission of the other participants, learn from their submissions and also comment on their submissions. The online course website: https://asuce.instructure.com/courses/2656

I am sharing the notes taken from the online resources and videos shared in the website. Module 0 highlights two important points in an online course offering

1. There should be an ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY where the student must attest that all work submitted or posted will be original work and adheres to the policy. Here is part of the ASU AIP:

"I have read the ASU Student Academic Policy (Link to website) and certify that all assignments submitted in this course (including papers, presentations, discussion board posts, quizzes, tests, exams, and laboratory work) will be my own original work and that any words, ideas, or data from other people that I include in my work will be properly attributed to their sources. I understand that I am not allowed to resubmit assignments previously submitted for a grade in another course or in a different section of this course. I understand my written work may be submitted for analysis by anti-plagiarism software and may be archived to prevent future academic policy violations......"

https://subjectguides.nscc.ca/AcademicIntegrity

   

 2. A SYLLABUS QUIZ is a strategy to ensure the key concepts of your syllabus are understood by your students.  This strategy is very appropriate in an online course since you will really force the students to read and understand the syllabus. Possible questions about the syllabus that you may ask : (a) What are the Course Learning Outcomes, (b) What are the course assessments and how do they contribute to the final grade. The quiz can be enumeration, multiple choice or check boxes. Incentive points may be given.

Actually, you may also combine the Academic Integrity Policy and Syllabus Quiz in one non-graded assignment. This activity can be done during the first week of the course.

https://wvc.instructure.com/courses/1316599/assignments/8421601