Imagine you are taking an online course for the very first time. You get logged in and you enter the course, now what do you do? When you logged into this course for … [Read more...]
The Importance of Announcements
Announcements are a primary means of establishing instructor presence in a course. This is the place where you can bring in your teaching expertise--your personal … [Read more...]
Using Multimedia with Announcements
Got your attention with that image, didn’t I? What would a rock concert be without the special lighting, smoke machines, dancing, and other elements designed to draw the … [Read more...]
Discussions and Instructor Presence
Discussions are the most powerful and prolific tools we have in asynchronous online learning to foster community. This is a key location for inserting instructor presence … [Read more...]
Quick Tip: Managing Group Enrollments
Small groups are great for online courses, but they do require a little babysitting on the part of the instructor. There are two types of group enrollments: auto enroll … [Read more...]
Making the Most of Your First Few Weeks
It's that time of year again! Eager students are figuring out who you are and what they're going to learn in your course. You're reading and meaningfully responding their … [Read more...]
Tips for Maintaining Presence
The following are all suggestions for maintaining instructor presence in an online course. Post announcements at least 2-3 times per week. Use announcements to post … [Read more...]
Importance of Introductions
One of your first activities in your courses is also one of the most important: introductions. Students in our courses are asked to introduce themselves during the first … [Read more...]
Instructor Roles
Space planner, pacesetter, host, connector, and mirror. These are a few of the online instructor's roles that strengthen instructor presence. In these roles, … [Read more...]
Online Interactions
Communication. This is the number one concern we hear from instructors who are new to the online environment -- that they will not be able to communicate with their … [Read more...]