Erin Shaffer

It is important to keep your "finger on the pulse" of what is going on in your online classroom. Outreach to students that are not engaging and being sure to address those students who might be intimidating others or commandeering a discussion is important to do quickly. 

It is important to deliver feedback quickly and in a supportive fashion for discussion threads. Due to the lack of body cues, it is imperative that your written work projects support and, if giving negative feedback, that is done in a fashion that is not off-putting or upsetting to the recipient.

It is important to project authority but also approachability for your students. Providing a robust welcome message and introduction as well as responding to each student individually at the outset of the course helps to develop a relationship with individual students. Be sure to acknowledge special learning needs. 

I have a good deal of experience in the online environment so this was a good review of what we should be assessing at the outset of the course.