Understanding Online Teaching Presence

Slide 1: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Understanding Teaching Presence Online Alexandra M. Pickett Assistant Director SUNY Learning Network Faculty Development & Learning Design 2001 Sloan-C Award for Excellence in ALN Faculty Development . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 2: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Introduction What makes an effective online learning environment? How do you and your students demonstrate “teaching presence” in your f2f classroom? How do you and your students cultivate a sense of class community in your f2f classroom? . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 3: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Introduction This presentation will provide:  Background and context for our theoretical model.  An overview of “Teaching Presence.”  An overview of “Class Community.”  A discussion of Best Practices.  Conclusion and implications for general online course and learning design. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 4: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background Faculty Development:  Consistent quality - effective practices.  Large scale and unique vantage point.  Opportunity to influence and share best practices across the design of all courses.  Research. SLN student satisfaction surveys: the most significant contributing factor to student satisfaction and reported learning is student/teacher interaction. Second is student to student interaction. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 5: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background Seven Principles... ! The effective online course Principles developer/instructor... of good practice in online Encourages student-faculty contact & interaction. Teaching Encourages student cooperation and reciprocity. and Learning Encourages active learning. Gives prompt feedback. Emphasizes time on task. Communicates high expectations. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning. Adapted from The Seven Principals of good Practice in Undergraduate Education - Chickering, and Gamson 1987. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 6: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background How People Learn... !  Knowledge Centered – Outcomes oriented - knowledge, skills, and People attitudes needed for successful transfer. learn  Learner Centered – Connect to the strengths, interests, and best in preconceptions of learners and help them learn about themselves as environments learners. that are...  Community Centered – Environment where students feel safe to ask questions, learn to work collaboratively, and are helped to develop lifelong learning skills.  Assessment Centered – Provide multiple opportunities to make students’ thinking visible so they can receive feedback and be given a chance to revise.  Bransford et al, 2000. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 7: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background in a text- Critical inquiry ! People learn based environment...  Social Presence – “the ability of students to project themselves best in socially and affectively into a community of inquiry. ” environments  Cognitive Presence – “the extent to which students are able to that support... construct and confirm meaning through sustained discourse in a community of inquiry. ”  Teaching Presence – “the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the realization of personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes.”  Garrison, Anderson, Rourke, and Archer, 2002. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 8: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background An emerging ! People learn framework... best in environments Community that are... Learner Centered Knowledge Centered Assessment Centered  How people learn - Bransford et al, 2000. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 9: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background An emerging ! People learn framework... best in Online Learning environments Community that are and support... Supporting Cognitive Presence Discourse/ Learner/learning-Centered Interaction Social Presence Knowledge -Centered Selecting Content Setting Climate Teaching Presence Assessment-Centered  How people learn - Bransford et al, 2000.  Critical Inquiry in a Text-based Environment - Garrison, Anderson, Rourke, and Archer, 2002. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 10: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Background An emerging ! Best Practices in effective framework... online learning Online Learning environment Community design  Encourage student-faculty contact and interaction.  Encourage student cooperation and reciprocity. Supporting Cognitive Presence  Encourage active learning. Discourse/ Learner/learning-Centered Interaction  Give prompt feedback. Social Presence  Emphasize time on task. Knowledge -Centered  Communicate high expectations. Selecting Content  Respect diverse talents and ways of learning. Setting Climate Teaching Presence Assessment-Centered  The Seven Principals of good Practice in Undergraduate Education - Chickering, and Gamson 1987.  How people learn - Bransford et al, 2000  Critical Inquiry in a Text-based Environment - Garrison, Anderson, Rourke, and Archer, 2002. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 11: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Teaching Presence Facilitating Discourse Direct Instruction Instructional Design & Organization Effective Online Teaching Presence - the facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the realization of personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes. Adapted from Anderson 2001. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 12: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating  Identifying areas of agreement and Discourse disagreement.  Seeking to reach consensus and understanding. Direct Instruction  Encouraging, acknowledging, and reinforcing student contributions. Instructional  Setting the climate for learning. Design &  Drawing in participants, prompting Organization discussion/interaction.  Assessing the efficacy of the process. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 13: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating Discourse 73% of students expressed agreement that their instructors facilitated discourse effectively. Direct 72% of student expressed agreement that their Instruction classmates facilitated discourse effectively. Instructional These percentages correlate directly to high Design & levels of student satisfaction and reported Organization learning. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 14: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating  Presenting content and questions. Discourse  Focusing the discussion.  Summarizing the discussion. Direct  Confirming understanding. Instruction  Diagnosing misperceptions.  Injecting knowledge from diverse sources. Instructional  Responding to technical concerns. Design & Organization . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 15: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating Discourse 76% of students expressed agreement that their instructors provided direct instruction effectively. Direct 66% of student expressed agreement that their Instruction classmates provided direct instruction effectively. Instructional These percentages correlate directly to high levels Design & of student satisfaction and reported learning. Organization . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 16: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating  Setting the curriculum. Discourse  Designing methods. Direct  Establishing time parameters. Instruction  Utilizing the medium effectively.  Establishing netiquette. Instructional Design & Organization . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 17: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Teaching Presence: from theory to practice. . . Facilitating Discourse Overall, 85% of student respondents agreed that Direct the indicators for this category were present in Instruction their courses. This percentage correlates directly to high levels Instructional of student satisfaction and reported learning. Design & Organization . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 18: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Class Community Two components... Connectedness Learning Effective Online Class Community - A rich productive online teaching and learning milieu that engenders trust, spirit, connectedness, belonging, membership and support , and that results in faculty and students that report high levels of satisfaction and learning. Adapted from Rovai 2002, Wenger 1997, Scardamalia and Berieter, 1996. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 19: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Class Community: from theory to practice. . . Connectedness  Building social/group spirit. Learning  Establishing trust. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 20: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Class Community: from theory to practice. . . Connectedness  Engaging in supportive contact and interaction. Learning  Sharing educational expectations. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 21: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Class Community: from theory to practice. . . Connectedness Our research shows that there is a relationship between teaching presence and the development of community in online learning Learning environments Courses characterized by effective teaching presence are more likely to develop a stronger sense of community on the part of the students = high levels of student satisfaction and reported learning. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 22: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Class Community: from theory to practice. . . Connectedness  Create and provide ample opportunities for interaction. Learning  Create and use activities that build a sense of class community.  Build/design activities that create a sense of connectedness between the students and the instructor.  Create a learning environment that is engaging with supportive contact and interaction. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 23: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online ... Class Community: from theory to practice. . . Connectedness Online courses that are designed to promote a sense of class community, Learning where there are ample opportunities for interaction and the social construction of knowledge, result in online teaching and learning communities of satisfied students and faculty. . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 24: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online WhatConclusion works? To be an effective online instructor you will need to engage in behaviors that are likely to result in high levels of learning and student satisfaction. To achieve this goal you will need to design an online course environment that:  Is learner/learning-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered.  Incorporates the seven principles of good practice in online teaching and learning.  Provides high levels of “teaching presence.”  Provides and fosters a strong and effective sense of online “class community.” . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 25: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Any questions Any questions ? . Alexandra M. Pickett .

Slide 26: Sloan-C Workshop Understanding Teaching Presence and Class Community Online Thank you! Alexandra M. Pickett apickett@sln.suny.edu . Alexandra M. Pickett .