The degree to which students in an online course feel connected to one another, to their instructor, and to the course content can impact their satisfaction and success in the course. It is your responsibility as an instructor to intentionally establish a sense of "presence" (or human connection) in the online teaching environment.
Presence consists of the relationships you build with and among students in the learning environment, the role you play as an instructional guide and facilitator of learning, and the unique personality you bring to the course. This idea is rooted in the Community of Inquiry (COI) model, which maintains that knowledge is constructed and embedded in social interaction.
Strategies for Adding Presence
To explore practical strategies that can help you build a sense of presence in the online classroom, click each tab below.
Create a Welcome Video
First impressions are important and can help relieve student anxiety around starting a new course. Consider creating a short (two- to three-minute) introductory video that shares your professional and personal interests and provides an overview of the course with tips for success. Make it personal enough to give them a sense of who you are. Your enthusiasm for the course and students' journey through it can transfer over to them, personalizing the experience and starting the process of building a relationship with them.
Learn more via the Create an Introductory Welcome Video guide.
Add an Entrance Survey
Adding a short survey to collect information about your students' unique experiences and goals for taking your course at the beginning of the quarter will help you better understand their motivations. You can inquire about a range of topics in an entrance survey to learn more about your students:
- Their previous background and experience in the field.
- Their knowledge or experience with the subject matter of the course.
- Their goals for taking the course and what they hope to achieve.
- Whether they've taken other courses in the program.
- Their experience with the learning platform.
- Their time zone or any time constraints that may impact their ability to participate.
- If they have any reservations or concerns that can help you personalize support and identify potential challenges up-front.
You can build your entrance survey using the Canvas Quizzes feature. Learn more via the Create a Quiz or Survey in Canvas guide.
Ask Students to Introduce Themselves
Consider adding a discussion activity in your Canvas course during the first week of class asking students to introduce themselves to their classmates. Including this type of activity has several benefits:
- It encourages interaction and rapport among students from the onset of your course.
- It promotes inclusivity, where students feel more comfortable and included in the online learning environment.
- It provides context into their classmates' perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences — encouraging a diverse exchange of ideas.
- Can increase participation in collaborative activities and discussions if students feel more connected to their classmates.
When creating this activity, give students options on how they introduce themselves. Canvas Discussion forums allow students to write in their responses, share links and files, or share audio and video introductions.
Learn how to create an Introduce Yourself Discussion Forum via the Create a Discussion in Canvas guide.
Share Audio or Video Announcements
Posting regular announcements (using text, images, audio, and/or video) lets you keep a consistent presence throughout the course experience. Through weekly announcements, you can remind students of upcoming deadlines or share helpful resources as they tackle the course materials and activities. If you use audio or video announcements, you may want to consider including a transcript or subtitles for greater accessibility.
The Canvas Announcements feature lets you draft and post messages directly from your course. Students will receive an email with the announcement message and can also access the message directly within Canvas. Learn more via the Post an Announcement in Canvas guide.
UCLA Extension offers templated announcements that can be imported into your course for customization:
If you are interested in gaining access to these announcement templates, reach out to the Learning Design team at atli@uclaextension.edu.
Add a Weekly Intro and Recap Video
Each week, you can record a quick one- to two-minute video reviewing major points and questions from the previous week and orienting students to the goals and activities of the current week.
Videos can also incorporate comments that students share or discuss how current events relate to the course materials. Consider sharing relevant new articles or resources if they help deepen students' understanding of the course content. This lets your students know that you are paying attention to their concerns and actively connecting the materials to their real world.
Learn how you can create a quick video directly from your Canvas course via the Record Course Video Content Using Panopto guide.
Maintain Regular Contact
Regular and consistent communication with students can help them feel supported in the online environment. It builds student confidence that you are available to field questions or provide additional information and feedback to help them succeed. Regular contact can be achieved through any of the following:
- Logging into Canvas every 24 to 48 hours to respond to check on students and answer incoming questions. (If unavailable for 48 hours, openly communicating with your students and your department when you will be available.)
- Posting weekly announcements to remind students of deadlines or to share helpful resources.
- Actively moderating discussion forums or collaborative activities to help students continue to explore and develop their ideas.
- Offering office hours via the web conferencing tool Zoom for students to connect with you one-on-one.
- Including and moderating a General Q&A Discussion Forum in Canvas for students to ask questions related to the course materials.
Take Advantage of Discussion Forums
When using discussion forums, remember to model active participation. As an instructor, your role is to be the moderator and guide, engaging in the conversation, commenting on students' posts, and guiding their learning. Learn some effective strategies for using Discussion forums via the Create Effective Discussions Activities guide.
Use Zoom to Enhance Social Presence
If you are teaching online, you can still offer optional Zoom meetings to connect and communicate with students in real time. Use synchronous communication to enhance social presence. Learn more via the Explore Active Learning Strategies and Techniques guide.
Include Collaborative Activities
Collaborative activities help build group cohesion and allow each student to contribute their unique knowledge, information, skills, and ideas. This encourages active learning, in which students are actively constructing each other's knowledge and skills.
You can use a variety of Canvas features to create group activities:
- Create a Group Assignment in Canvas, such as group projects, collaborative document creation, and student-led inquiry.
- Create a Group Discussion in Canvas and transform a single Canvas discussion into a small personalized group experience.
- Create a Peer Review Assignment in Canvas, giving students the opportunity to provide each other with meaningful feedback, as well as see one another's work.
- Use Groups in Canvas to create collaborative spaces where students can work together.
When planning group activities:
- Emphasize the purpose of the activity and its value to students (e.g., solving a problem in a project team that they would encounter on the job in the real world).
- Build in activity time that allows students to self-reflect on the group project experience or self-assess their own participation in the group, as well as their teammates' participation.
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Frame activities around real-world problems, situations, or industry-specific projects.
- Include activities that allow students to share their own unique experiences from their professional and personal lives.
Learn more via the Explore Active Learning Strategies and Techniques guide.
Share Relevant and Personal Examples
As an instructor, you are an expert and mentor to your students, providing a gateway to your professional field. Bringing in current, real-world examples can show your content's relevance and connect the course materials to the larger world and your students' lives and professional aspirations.
Make the learning personal by sharing lessons learned and best practices from your own experiences in the industry. These snippets can be in the form of informal or formal videos each week. Learn how you can create a quick video directly from your Canvas course via the Record Course Video Content Using Panopto guide.