How can I establish an instructor presence, especially online?

Dear Aggie,

I want to make sure that my online students know that I am a real person and am working hard to make sure that they will be successful in my course. What can I do to make myself seem more present with my asynchronous online courses?

~Striving for Presence

Dear Striving,

This is a great question! We might not always recognize or realize it, but “instructor presence” is really important. Luckily, there are many things you can do to establish your instructor presence, even in an asynchronous online course.

Why instructor presence is important

Instructor presence boils down to making sure that you are there for your students, and that they know it.

A strong instructor presence can promote:

• Student engagement and motivation
• Student satisfaction
• Student participation
• Student success

Establishing and Maintaining your Instructor Presence

Introduce yourself.

• Set up an instructor introduction in your Getting Started Module, and also post an introduction to yourself on the introductions discussion board.

Check in to your course regularly.

• Checking in at least 3 times a week is recommended. At each check in, answer any student questions, see how a discussion is going, check in on any quiz or assignment submissions. Try to keep an eye on the “pulse” of the course.

Post regular announcements.

• Use frequent announcements to stay in touch with your students.
• You can mix up the format- use text/written, audio and video announcements. 
• Post an announcement when a module opens.
• Post another mid-week- comment on their progress, or share a related news article.
• Post another once a module has finished, to do any wrap-up (e.g. I noticed that there was some confusion regarding… you all did a great job on…. )
• Remember that you can pre-schedule announcements (e.g. module introduction/overviews) in advance.
• Infuse your voice and personality into course materials when possible

Record your own lecture screencasts (e.g. in Canvas Studio).

• Let students hear your voice.

Include a short video as part of the introduction to each module.

• Let students see your smiling face.

Provide feedback with grading.

• Use the “assignment comments” tool to leave a comment about an assignment; use the student’s name.
• In a large course, use the feedback boxes in each quiz question to provide hints, or post an answer key once the quiz or assignment has closed.

Be present in (but don’t dominate) discussions.

• Let students know that you are paying attention to the discussions by adding general feedback, or posting an announcement that summarizes the discussion posts to date
• Be careful of over-praising early responses—you don’t want to shut down the discussion by suggesting that the correct answer has already been posted and that there is no more room to discuss.

I hope that these suggestions will help you be present for your students. I know that they will appreciate your presence!

~Aggie