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Thompson kelvin elearn 2010
This document discusses strategies for increasing social presence and reducing isolation in online university courses. It recommends designing interactive assignments, modeling personal disclosure, providing frequent feedback, and using tools like announcements, emails and social media to communicate regularly with students. The goal is to make students feel like real people are engaged in the course rather than feeling alone. While time-consuming, these strategies can improve student connectedness and satisfaction with online learning.
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- 1. Take Your StudentsOut of Solitary Confinement: Strategies for Increasing Social Presence in University Online Courses Kelvin Thompson, Ed.D. University of Central Florida
- 2. Caveats • Practitioner-focused – Notaddressing “why” • See Community of Inquiry Model, Social Learning Theory, Social Constructivism, etc. • See E-Learn 2010 Proceedings for some good references – I don’t have this figured out. Work in progress. • Where – Course Management System (CMS)-based – Public or semi-public Web 2.0 tools
- 3. social presence, thedegree to which one is perceived as a real person in a mediated environment Short, Williams, and Christie (1976) Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000)
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- 5. Provide Communication Protocols •Examples include: – How and when to use each venue (email, IM, etc.) – Clearly calling one another by name in visible communications – Being specific about ideas to which one is responding – Encouraging appropriate use of phatic communication
- 6. Create “Interaction” Assignments •Introductory Interactions • Low/no score • Appropriate self-disclosure • Connect to course content • Instructor modeling (posting and responses) • Interaction Assignments • Clear prompt for response • Provide explicit scoring criteria based on desired behaviors - Require posting of student perspective - Require responses by classmates to student work - Address timing (to avoid “post and run” behavior)
- 7. Design Authentic Learning Assignments •Practical, projects/tasks • High challenge, low stress (Csikszentmihalyi, 1994) • Ideally, connect to student interests These: • Require personal investment by students • Are worthy of substantive feedback – Peer review (provide guidance and incentive) – Instructor
- 8. Model Appropriate Self-Disclosure •Share instructor bio at beginning of course • Create a warm welcome message • Drop tidbits of info in course communications
- 9. Cultivate a HumaneTone • Beware of written messages that “zap.” • Express interest/concern. • Consider audio. • “Thanks for asking, John.” • “If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.” • “I noticed…. Is there something going on about which I should be aware?”
- 10. Respond Quickly toMessages from Students • Address turn-around time in syllabus • Be consistent • Notify students when you’ll be unreachable
- 11. Make Weekly Updates •Text and audio (some students will use both) • Brief (less than 2 pages or 10 minutes) • Consider podcast tools (Box.net is useful) • “I felt like there was a real instructor there.”
- 12. Solicit Weekly StudentFeedback • Anonymous • Ask what worked and what didn’t • Include questions on “connectedness”
- 13. Respond To/Take Actionon Student Feedback • Podcast • Announcements • Email All
- 14. Give General Feedback •Podcast • Announcements • Discussion Forum • Email All
- 15. Give Specific StudentFeedback • If large class, use scoring rubric with highlightable written descriptions (See http://irubric.com or “Grading Forms” in Blackboard’s WebCT Vista/CE) • Provide person-specific written feedback is possible • Include student name
- 16. Send Regular Content-BasedMessages • Course Email • Announcements • Twitter (embed widget in CMS) • HootCourse.com • Text messaging (SendGM.com or other)
- 17. Live in theOpen • Model participation in Personal/professional Learning Network (PLN) – Web 2.0 Tools – Social Networking/Media
- 18. Caution • Time commitment(beware of diminishing returns) • Some students resist (self-fulfilling false beliefs about online learning)
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- 20. Follow Up Kelvin Thompson,Ed.D. kthompso@mail.ucf.edu http://twitter.com/kthompso http://bit.ly/thompson_elearn Presentation & Examples/Supporting Materials (audio to follow)
Editor's Notes
- #16 Show highlighted rubric here