1. Enhancing
Social Presence
in Online Courses
Joni Dunlap (Joni.Dunlap@UCDenver.edu)
School of Education and Human Development
Center for Faculty Development
2.
3. “There is more than a verbal tie
between the words common,
community, and communication... Try
the experiment of communicating, with
fullness and accuracy, some
experience to another, especially if it
be somewhat complicated, and you
will find your own attitude toward your
experience changing.”
~ John Dewey
4.
5. What is Social Presence?
• How will I know my learners?
And, how will they know me?
• What happens to my personality?
• How do I help learners stay
connected, and not disappear?
• How can I establish a supporting
learning community?
7. A Few Guidelines
• How, when, & why to contact you
• Reach out to learners: personal
call, email; use names
• Discussion: when, why, group
size
• Anonymous, personal, public
• Learner centered
10. • Let me tell you a story about a
man named Jed...
• A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away...
• In the olden days...
• Once upon a time...
Let’s see an example...
11.
12. • I lived in Saudi Arabia as a youth
• My first car was a white 1966
Barracuda with red leather interior
• I have been a vegetarian for 25 years
• I was a member of the road crew for
the Grateful Dead from 1989-1991
• I used to produce and direct on-air
pledge drives for public television
• I was held up at gun point and had my
car stolen as the get-away vehicle
13. Social Network Presence
• Thoughts on Teaching blog
• Flickr photo sets; VoiceThread
stories
• Del.icio.us webliographies
• MySpace, FaceBook
• Breeze, podcasts, YouTube
21. Establishing Rules of
Engagement, Expectations
• Using shell, wikis, Google Docs
• Providing space for connection
• Modeling “rules”
• Illustrating relevance
22. • Three reasons why the author is dead
wrong
• All we need to know about teaching
we can learn from skateboarders
• Technology replaces teachers
• Students just aren’t as dedicated as
they used to be
• Social interaction isn’t possible in self-
paced online training
23. Two of my chief concerns about teaching
online have been...
•Keeping students engaged and connected
with the course and course activities, and
•How much time it takes to keep students
engaged and connected with the course and
course activities.
What is your number one concern about
teaching online? What ideas do you have for
addressing the concerns shared by me
(above) and shared by others in this forum?
24. The Final Post
• Groups of 4-6
• Each learner posts a quote from
the text + 350 words
• Group members respond with
250 words
• Originator reacts to the
responses (250 words)
25. The Last Word
• Groups of 4-6
• Each learner posts a quote from the
text without commenting on the quote
• Group members comment with 250
words
• In 250 words, originator’s “last word”
incorporates original interest with
insights gleaned from reading the
group members’ comments
26. Rotating Threads
• Set up discussion forums, with a different
provocative issue to discuss in each forum.
• In groups of 4-5, have learners rotate to a
new forum. Timing = e.g., Forum A on
Monday, Forum B on Tuesday, and so on.
• Each group records their ideas about the
issue.
• Once complete, learners revisit forums to
see what other groups posted.
