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The document discusses the importance of creating a sense of instructor presence in online classrooms, highlighting three dimensions: persona, social connections, and instructional guidance. It emphasizes that a lack of instructor presence can negatively impact student satisfaction, especially for those in fully online programs. Strategies for enhancing presence include intentional instructional design, using technology appropriately, and actively engaging with students through feedback and communication.

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12 views

Module_5_Creating_a_Sense_of_Instructor_Presence_in_the_Online_Classroom-1

The document discusses the importance of creating a sense of instructor presence in online classrooms, highlighting three dimensions: persona, social connections, and instructional guidance. It emphasizes that a lack of instructor presence can negatively impact student satisfaction, especially for those in fully online programs. Strategies for enhancing presence include intentional instructional design, using technology appropriately, and actively engaging with students through feedback and communication.

Uploaded by

wesen derbe
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Kelly, R. (2014, January 7). Creating a Sense of Instructor Presence in the Online Classroom.

Faculty Focus. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-


education/creating-a-sense-of-instructor-presence-in-the-online-classroom/

Creating a Sense of Instructor


Presence in the Online Classroom
Online instructors need to be intentional about creating a sense of presence in their
courses so that students know that somebody is leading their educational experience.
According to Larry Ragan, director of instructional design and development for Penn
State’s World Campus, this sense of presence consists of three dimensions:

• Persona—This consists of the instructor’s personality, teaching style, and


interests—all the characteristics that go into the students’ impression of the
instructor.
• Social—This refers to the connections instructors make with the students and
those that students make with each other to build a learning community.
• Instructional—This is the role the instructor plays in guiding students through
the learning process.

The need for instructor presence

“In the face-to-face classroom, we don’t actually have to think too much about being
present because we’re there—it’s a physical thing. In the online space there is no
physicality. I’m not there physically. I don’t see people eye to eye. We may not even be
in the same time zone. So how do I convey to the students that there is somebody who
is participating, who is a leader in this educational experience?” Ragan says.

A lack of presence can have negative consequences for the learner. As an online
learner, Kim Eke, director of Teaching and Learning Interactive at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, experienced a lack of instructor presence. “When
professors didn’t seem present, it had a big effect on my satisfaction. I thought, well,
they don’t care,” says Eke.

This sense of presence is particularly important for students enrolled solely in online
programs, as opposed to on-campus students who take occasional online courses. “For
those individuals who are pursuing a degree or certificate in a wholly online
environment, the faculty member becomes the connection to that institution. The faculty
member is the glue that holds this system together, and so for a student it’s really

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important to get to know the faculty member at some level. I say at some level because
it may vary,” Ragan says. “Maybe the 18-to-22-year-olds aren’t really interested in this
idea of learning community. They might say ‘I’ve got that covered. I’ve got my friends. I
don’t need my instructional experience to also contain that dimension.’ Whereas the
[solely, often adult] online learner may feel isolated from the experience, from the
physical dimension of your university.”

Designing for presence

The sense of instructor presence is created through a combination of instructional


design and delivery. Videos, photos, narratives—depending on one’s comfort level with
the medium—can help create this sense of presence in advance of course delivery.
“You can invest a little bit of time and energy in the design phase, say, in the summer
prior to putting your course online, developing a nice introduction—this is who I am.
Maybe it’s a video. Maybe it’s just a narrative. Whatever vehicle you are most
comfortable using. You can invest the time and energy to get the photos right or get a
video clip done right and so forth so that when you’re in teaching mode you’re not
saying, ‘Shoot, I’d better create something that establishes my persona,’” Ragan says.

Eke cautions against getting enamored of too much technology. “Keep things simple. I
would never advocate using all the technologies… The idea is to identify the gaps in
your course. Is there something I can do to add a little bit to the community? You don’t
have to go whole hog and overboard. Just figure out what makes sense for you and
your course.”

Ragan says that faculty members can make technology decisions on their own, but it
helps to get input from others, preferably an IT professional or an instructional designer,
on what is appropriate for the course and how it might contribute to the learning
experience.

Evidence of engagement

When a course is in session, students need to see “evidence of engagement” such as


announcements, discussion board posts, and uploads of photos or videos on the part of
the instructor, Ragan says. It’s not enough to log in and monitor a course. Instructors
need to show that they are active in the course.

Learning management systems can provide some useful data an instructor can use to
gauge his or her presence, such as frequency and duration of logging in to a course.
Ragan envisions an LMS dashboard that provides instructors (and perhaps a mentor or
supervisor) with this data on a regular basis to help the instructor manage his or her
presence. “It’s a little Big Brotherish, but I think the capabilities are there for us to begin
doing that. I think we’re called as good teachers to be more aware of establishing that

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teaching presence and making sure that we’re [serving] the need of the students to
have us visible,” Ragan says.

Using data analytics in this manner can provide some useful quantitative feedback, but
it’s also important to look at qualitative data as well. An indirect way of gauging
instructors’ presence is the type of questions coming from students.

More directly, instructors can ask students for feedback throughout the course. “I think
in the online environment we have to be more intentional about reaching out and asking
those questions, such as ‘How’s it going?’ or ‘How am I doing?’” Ragan says.

You can build in low-stakes evaluation feedback and higher-stakes elements as well.
Feedback can be anonymous. For example, at the end of a unit you might ask, “Was
this information clear, or were there any points you didn’t understand?”

You also can ask questions specifically about your role as instructor, such as:

• Is the timeliness of my responses helpful?


• Are the types of responses you’re getting helpful?
• Is there anything else I could be doing to help you?

“The students so much appreciate just being asked,” Ragan says.

Excerpted from Creating a Sense of Instructor Presence in the Online Classroom,


Online Classroom,12.10 (2012): 1,3,5.

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