Laying the Foundation for Student Success

The previous video helped to define social presence and discover the benefits it brings to online student experience. What's also important for you, as an online instructor, is beginning to envision how to foster social presence. This 4-minute video suggests some key principles, both pedagogical and administrative, for establishing a rich online learning community that you may consider at this point in your online course development plan.

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Here is the transcript for this video.

So the question on your mind now might be, “OK, How does one cultivate social presence in an online class?” After all, anyone who class understand that an entire class of students generally just doesn’t jump in and form has taught online or perhaps taken an online a close knit community in any type of learning environment.

To foster social presence, the learning environment must be designed with regular opportunities for students to share relevant, meaningful content that places them in the seat of an inquiry-driven learner. You may consider designing problems for students to investigate and have them return with content they located or event created on their own to contribute and share with their peers — this might be in the form of photographs taken with smartphones, an audio interview with family members or peers, links to videos or news events — think outside the box of being an instructor who delivers content to your students and, instead, design experiences for them to plunge into. When students share content that they produced or found, that content is a reflection of themselves in some way and it’s going to foster a more meaningful discussion with their peers when this content is used as the catalyst of some of the interactions in your online classes.

When building a community in an online class, there are some important fundamentals that should be considered from day one. A learning community is a place where every person feels safe. Creating, sharing, and expressing oneself can make individuals feel vulnerable. Be sensitive to the fact that your students may never have experienced a class that have expected them to learn and participate in this way. It’s a great idea to start your class by sharing your teaching philosophy that communicates how your students will learn in your class, what your expectations are of them, and why you are approaching your class this way. Think of your teaching philosophy as your vision for the class.

Secondly, consider developing a set of ground rules that each member will abide by and ensure members agree to these ground rules at the start of the class. For more directed online learners, you may consider having students participate in the collaborative development of these ground rules but it is a good idea that you get them started with some essentials at the very least. For undergraduate students online, a good approach is to provide the option for students to contribute additional ground rules if they feel something is missing from your already developed list. This way, students feel an opportunity to participate from the beginning.

Laying this groundwork is may seem basic but it’s really fundamental to starting your students on the right foot. These steps begin to model yourself as a trustworthy community leader. Your students will feel safe, which is the foundation of sharing. It is also a critical element of instructor presence, as it demonstrates that you care about the unique needs of your students. Sharing your teaching philosophy and community ground rules will make a big difference to the successful start of an online class from the students’ perspective.

So, what is the recipe for your online class going to look like? The choice is yours.

This video is by Michelle Pacansky-Brock and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.