Students love seeing the "human" side of a teacher. It goes both ways in that a teacher should know his/her students just as students should know their instructor.
It is important for effective teachers to establish authority and build relationships with their students, even through the course is virtual. This includes providing info(with credentials, etc) about oneself, and asking students to share their own biographies.
Revealing a hobby or interest you have outside of the course is one way to build rapport with your students but should never be the center of your discussions regarding the course.
I learned that providing sample of the assignments you are requiring is good. It is alos good to contribute to the discussion boards and do not try and dominate the discussion.
It would appear that the subject of biographies should allow or get the students to approach their fellow student with respect and understanding. It is understandable that this could or would allow students to be more comfortable, thus entering a learning environment.
Personalize your material and make every effort to show interest in getting to know your students even through the distance. Students are more likely to perform at their highest potential when they know you are invested in them.
I don't really like the "All about me" part of the first week of school. Now that I believe my classes will be held virtually, I see its importannce in starting to establish that relationship with my students, and have jotted down notes on how they can start to create relationships within the class this way too. I will need to remember to offer students choices in how they present themselves in the bio section. That will be shared with everyone in the class, but I also noted to have a section or file that is only shared with me, similar to the "tell me about yourself" questionaire they normally fill out for me that gives me contact info and asking about their concerns about the year/class.
It was great to learn about ways to connect virtually and how I can adabt my "getting to know you" plan.
I feel that the emphasis on credentials is useless at the high school level. They could give a rat's behind about a plaque on a wall. They want to know your experiences. They want to know about how your knowledge that you are teaching has affected your life. This translates to their heads how the information you give them can change their life.
I have tried to get to know each of my students but I did not think about having them post a bio. I will use this for any future online classes
I never really thought that students would respect me more by my authority because I have a Master degree or a certificate from this Online Course, but now I am begging to see that it is important to share this information. I spend hours maintaining my curriculum with modules that contain assignments, discussions, quizzes that are all updated to industry standards. Never have I ever received any recognition or praise for what I do. I just know it is important, & prepares my students for the future.
Good ideas for establishing relationships especially in the first session, including the bios and the personalized message to each student.
Students feel comfortable when they can relate to the instructor. Giving them your biography as well as asking them to post theirs is a great way to become familiar with the online student.
Maintaining a good relationship with your students and getting to know your students by sharing personal interest through e-learning.
It's important that students are aware of the person behind the screen, and that they know that you are aware and concerned about them
Creating relationships with students can be more challenging in an online environment. There were several suggestions of how to establish relationships using biographies that I am thankful to have.
The idea of knowing the student's bio and the students having knowledge of the teacher's bio is a good teaching mechanism for professional confidences.
I've already been practicing all of these items brought up- but one thing I would like to add- occasionally- and briefly- be funny. Not necessarily tell jokes, but be spontaneous, human in your commentary. This can tend to help students realize that there is a human on the other end of there laptop. Be careful- never berate a student- for humor or otherwise- it could cause more damage than when in a classroom- they may not pick up as easily online that you made a comment in jest about them...
More than anything else, this module has confirmed for me the importance of relationships even at a distance. And that creating connection is as important virtually as it is within the classroom walls.
Our current learning environment was thrust upon us as a result of the closing of all schools in the state. Relationships had already been established between teacher-students and student-student. Had this not been the case, cultivating and maintaining these relationships is paramount to student as well as instructor success. I check in weekly with my students via a weeklt reflection assignment they are given at the end of each week. They are free to share what they learned during the week, what they were successful at and why, what they could have done better at and why, a goal they have for the next week and a "I would like to tell my teacher" prompt. Over the years, I have found out a great deal about my students as human beings and been able to refer students to appropriate follow up care as determined by their responses.
