Instructor Presence

Over the last several weeks, I have been doing a lot of research into instructor presence. In an online course instructor presence takes on many forms, from the planning and development stages of the course to the beginning, middle, and the end. The development and design of the course and learning environment is one of the first steps in developing a strong instructor presence because it presents the platform and roadmap for how students will interact with one another and the instructor (Shea et al., 2019).

Once the course starts instructor presence can be established and maintained through the following suggestions:

• clear communication expectations ( how students can get in touch with the instructor, when to expect a response on questions, assignment feedback etc.)
• One on one meetings with students or small group meetings (bi-weekly check-ins, beginning and end of term meetings, drop-in office “Zoom” office hours.)
• Discussion facilitation including skillfully facilitating discussion forums by synthesizing comments, asking questions, and directed the conversation when needed (Feenberg & Xin, 2020).
• Providing classroom updates (announcements, sharing resources).
• Creating a weekly ritual with students such as sharing progress on art or writing, posting shared resources (Bonk, 2010).
• Incorporate collaborative learning tools (Padlet, Jamboard, Miro).
• Give timely and thorough feedback and assessments.

Above are some techniques and ideas to increase and maintain teacher presence throughout a course. Personally, I have tried and suggested some of the techniques including drop-in office hours, clear expectations, discussion facilitation, timely feedback, and collaborative learning tools. They worked well, and I noted an increase in student engagement, participation, and comfortability in engaging with the course. I would like try establishing a weekly ritual ritual with my students such as sharing their artwork in progress. I think this is a nice way to get to know students and to build community in a course. In addition, it allows me to become more familiar with student work and carter my content and teaching to suite their needs.

Bonk C (2010) 6. Building Community. https://youtu.be/t4gDUkEI14Q.

Shea, P., Li, C., Swan, K., & Pickett, A. (2019). Developing Learning Community in Online Asynchronous College Courses: The Role of Teaching Presence. Online Learning, 9(4). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v9i4.1779