By having a good rapport with the students is key to being able to help the student. Day 1 of each class I give a bio of myself, and allow all students to do the same thing. We find similar interests and by the end of week 1 everyone helping each other. If a student asks a question you can not answer, or you need more information, make sure to answer that student within a timely manner. This means so much to the students and it keeps the rapport up.
In this module I learn valuable ways to make my presence felt in an online course. Now I know what to include in the course introduction regarding my credentials which will promote my professional credibility. Also, I learn important concenpts to use in creating student profiles.
One of the more challengings aspects I am anticipating as an online instructor is establishing my authority and presence. In the classroom setting this has actually been quite easy as students are focused on you to deliver learning content/facilitate learning. Particularly in asynchronous online learning I imagine that establshing the same level of authority can be quite difficult. The module provided some helpful techniques to be able to establish presence, authority, and relationships with students in the online steting.
Personally, in the master's program I chose I found it only necessary to interact with course instructors when I was revising tasks/assessments. Other than that, I was able to move through the entire program without interacting with peers or instructors. I can say that while this method provided the same outcome (a master's degree), my sole focus was on completing the task for the course and not on interaction and engagement.
An effective teacher can begin each course establishing authority with a biography and being engaging with the students.
Students can learn from distance teaching and can feel comfortable about learning online.
Makeing I have provided a biography of my self including education, experience in the field and a little about myself such as hobbies and interests. I also ask that students do the same, in this way each and everyone can get to know each other and have a comfortable platform to start our class atmostphere.
I learned that it is just as important online as it is in face to face instruction to get to know your students and for your students to get to know you. You just have to do it in different ways.
I found that making your presence known in an online setting is critical to your students success. The fact is, students want to know that an instructor is there, not just a computer screen. Taking the time to send out reminders, add information to a QA forum, having office hours, and more are all great ways to allow your students know that you are there to help.
It is important to post a biography to establish authority and relate to the students
I learned that it would be a good idea to introduce yourself by talking about your credentials and possibly your hobbies and interests. Then let the students talk about themsleves through a short biography and get to know each other. Both of these help to proide a meaningful learning experince.
To know the students and sharing your experience will allow an interactive relationship and give the student more confor withing the group
Ensuring students have access to their instructor and the instructor is knowledgable are key to online teaching success.
Projecting Presence:
The goal of making it more presonable and create a little bit of community makes sense.
You can project your presence by merely developiong a common ground with your students. I feel like this is important, in order for the students to get the feeling you are another relatabeable human being as they are.
This gives some good ideas of the depth of communication that needs to occur for a good online class. The class must be conducted in a much more than assigning multiple choice questions and unread discussions.
I think it is important to build rapport with online students as you would in a regular classroom setting. Posting a short biography of yourself and requiring students to post a biography is a great way to begin establishing that rapport.
I've learned what i'm already doing but to continue to reinforce togetherness and being transparent with students.
It is important for you and your students to get to know each other. Students should feel like they have an instructor who wants them to succeed and are there for them when they need help.
In Module 2, I have discovered the importance of building my online presence related to the motivation and respect aspects of my classroom. I've learned how to project and maintain my authority in online learning using my traditional classroom strategies. I am reminded that student success is built and maintained by healthy relationships, mutual respect, purposeful, and meaningful content and support provided in a timely and measured manner. I plan to implement the online Biography assignment as my first assignment, as well as messaging all students individually that first week and commenting personally. I think I will use a second assignment as engaging with peers and their biographies. This will provide a "channel" for us as a group to engage each other and get to know one another.
Having a personal rapport and transparency helps engage a relationship that is essential to learning.
