Instructor Presence

Instructor Presence, through engagement and prompt feedback, are necessary elements to promote student engagement and inclusion in an online course.

Using less formal language within your course pages to frame content and connect it to prior knowledge, is one way of designing “presence” into your course in advance. Relating personal experiences and anecdotes that connect to the content helps students to connect to you as their instructor. Your regular presence in the course through announcements and discussion board posts, remind students you are there to support their learning. However, it is important to strike a balance when it comes to discussion boards. Be careful not post too early or often in course discussions, as students can perceive your word as “the final word”, and the student to student discussion may end prematurely.

How, and how often you post can have a notable impact, as found in this case study from Curtin University.

You may also consider short weekly mini-video overviews or summaries of the class discussion to inject more of "you" into your course that might not be achievable through text alone.

Here are some readings with practical advice you might find helpful:

Explore this article called, The importance of Instructor Presence and voice (3 pages) to learn more about out how to create an online presence.

Explore this article to learn more about student satisfaction, Instructor Presence in Online Courses, and Student Satisfaction. (25 pages)

Optional if time allows: This is an excellent article, Being There: Establishing Instructor Presence in an Online Learning Environment (11 pages)

Please click "Next" below to move on in Module 1.