Creating Instructor Presence

in Online Courses

Florence Martin

Instructional Systems Technology

UNC Charlotte

About Me

Florence Martin, Ph.D.Associate Professor & Program DirectorInstructional Systems Technology

Florence.Martin@uncc.edu

Research

Online Learning Environments

• Elearning

• Synchronous Online Learning

• Mobile Learning

• Learning Analytics

Teaching

• EIST 6150 – Design, Development and Evaluation of online learning systems

• EIST 6130 – Instructional Multimedia Development

• EIST 6110 – Instructional Design

UNCC IST Program

• M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Technology (36 hours)

• Graduate Certificate in Instructional Systems Technology (18

hours)

http://edld.uncc.edu/programs/instructional-systems-technology-program

Online Learning and Teaching

Concentration

This Online Learning and Teaching

concentration is for those interested

in the development and management

of online learning systems.

EIST 6100 Foundations of Instructional Systems Technology

EIST 6110 Instructional Design

EIST 6120 Current Trends in Instructional System Technology

EIST 6130 Instructional Multimedia Development

EIST 6150 Design, Development, and Evaluation of Online Learning Systems

EIST 6101 Learning Principles in Instructional Systems Technology

http://edld.uncc.edu/sites/edld.uncc.edu/files/media/OLT_ISTFlyer.pdf

What do your students say?

Are you there?

Community of Inquiry ModelCreating the Educational Experience

Definitions

• Cognitive presence encompasses the course

content and its contribution to critical thinking

skills.

• Social presence is the social environment

created in an online teaching course.

• Teaching presence includes the organization

of course content, activities, and interaction

along with the added expertise of the

instructor (Anderson, Elloumi, 2007).

Define Instructor Presence

• Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, and Archer (2001), define

teaching presence as

“the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the realization of personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes” (p. 5).

Research on Instructor Presence

• Instructor Presence

– relate to students’ success or satisfaction in online

courses

– Enhances student motivation to learn

– reflected through the depth and quality of students’

interactions and discussions

– Reduces the sense of isolation

– Improves student performance

Why Instructor Presence?

Harris (2013)• Students want to interact with their professors throughout their

online experience.

• Research criticizes online instructors who do not respond to

students in a timely manner or provide little or no feedback.

• Active participation of the instructor, as well as their ongoing

interactions with students, helps them to be “present” in an online

course.

• Instructor presence is important because it helps bridge the

distance and address feelings of isolation students may feel when

learning online.

Establishing Teaching Presence

• Teaching presence is established in three ways,

course design, facilitation, and direct instruction

(Garrison et al., 2000).

Teaching Presence

Course Design

FacilitationDirect

Instruction

Course Design

• Course design involves tasks such as,

curriculum development, creation and

integration of a variety of learning activities into

the course, and assessment of participant

learning outcomes.

Course Design

Facilitation

Direct Instruction

Direct Instruction

• Direct instruction encompasses tasks such as

regulating the amount of material covered,

posing questions that guide participant learning,

summarizing discussions, and confirming

understanding through assessment and

feedback.

Course Design

Facilitation

Direct Instruction

Facilitation

• Facilitation includes setting the course climate,

encouraging learner participation in course

activities, and acknowledging participant

responses.

Course Design

Facilitation

Direct Instruction

Sheridan and Kelly (2010)

Top 10 – Highest Mean

Makes course requirements clear

Clearly communicated important due dates/time frames for learning activities

Sets clear expectations for discussion participation

Provides clear instructions on how to participate in course learning activities

Provides timely feedback on assignments and projects

Clearly communicates important course topics

Creates a course that is easy to navigate

Clearly communicated important course goals

Keeps the course calendar updated

Always follows through with promises made to students

Instructor Introduction

• https://voicethread.com/new/share/6974707/

Demo of “Course Orientation”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9F39i9dRcc&feature=youtu.be

Multiple Ways for students to

contact you

Provide more than one way for students to contact you with order of preference

Customizing the Syllabus

Response Times provided in

Syllabus

Forums

Contact the Instructor Forum

Announcements Forum

Present in Discussions

Clear InstructionsSetting ExpectationsInteract regularlyRefer to students by name

User-friendly design

Easy to Navigate

Customized Navigation Menu

Instructor generated presentation

Clear Expectations on Projects

Using the same criteria to grade and provide feedback

Responding to Student Reflections

One to one reflection with student

Synchronous Meeting –

Orientation, Q&A

Using the various features, chat, whiteboard, polls, emoticons to encourage interaction

Skype for Office Hours

Mid-semester & End-of semester feedback

Other

• Audio/Video Feedback on Assessments

Reference

• Anderson T., Elloumi F. (2007) Theory and Practice of Online

Learning. Retrieved from Theory and Practice of Online Learning.

• Garrison, D. R. & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2005). Facilitating cognitive

presence in online learning: Interaction is not enough. American

Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 133–148.

• Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in

a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher

education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87−105.

• Sheridan, K., & Kelly, M. A. (2010). The indicators of instructor

presence that are important to students in online courses. Journal of

Online Learning and Teaching, 6(4), 767.

• Harris, C. (2013). Instructor Presence in an online course. Retrieved

online from https://www.purdue.edu/learning/blog/?p=6232

UNCC IST Program

• M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Technology (36 hours)

• Graduate Certificate in Instructional Systems Technology (18

hours)

http://edld.uncc.edu/programs/instructional-systems-technology-program

Online Learning and Teaching

Concentration

This Online Learning and Teaching

concentration is for those interested

in the development and management

of online learning systems.

EIST 6100 Foundations of Instructional Systems Technology

EIST 6110 Instructional Design

EIST 6120 Current Trends in Instructional System Technology

EIST 6130 Instructional Multimedia Development

EIST 6150 Design, Development, and Evaluation of Online Learning Systems

EIST 6101 Learning Principles in Instructional Systems Technology

http://edld.uncc.edu/sites/edld.uncc.edu/files/media/OLT_ISTFlyer.pdf