Projecting Your Presence
This can be done by way of using proximity in the classroom. Moving around the room and catching eye contact of your students will help keep them engaged in the lesson.
CLAUDIU ,
Excellent point, the more the instructor is communicating with the class them more the students "feel" their presence.
Herbert Brown III
in addition, instuctors who readily answer emails, as well as send personal notes to students moreoften than not, are more active in their class, and can possbily incresae their perception of being present.
The virtual presence is indeed challenging in that students are unable to "see" the instructor. One way to deal with this is to be a constant presence online, letting the students know that you are around if needed. Moreover, verbiage is important. For example, if a discussion board goes off track and students are being disrespectful to each other, the instructor can really establish a presence if he steps in and recalibrates the discussion. Using firm but respectful language can achieve this end. Another way to project presence is to be sure to enforce the rules of the course, thereby showing to the students that you are serious about class rules.
Rhonda,
So "eye" contact is really "I"...i.e. the student, contact. The personal touch, making the student feel a personal connection with you the instructor as well as the class.
Herbert Brown III
Eye contact is a wonderful way to acknowledge the students' presence. Online, eye contact is made by using the students' names and engaging them in discussion.
Charmelia,
Eye contact is important as are visual aids. How do you deal with these in your online classes? How do you make eye contact online, do you do all synchronous video sessions? Are there other ways that you can project your authority and presence in an online classroom? What about your personal experiences do they play any part?
Herbert Brown III
Eye contact is important bu the importance of using visual aids is a key component to learning
I would agree with your statement that in a traditional classroom, making eye contact is a great way to project your presence. In an online environment, the situation is entirely different as there is no face-to-face interaction.
At the institution that I work for, our methods of projecting our presence generally stems from interacting with students frequently in discussion forums, personal emails, reaching out to students that are inactive or those who are not contributing as much progress to address any concerns or at the very least to help construct a plan for time management (many of our students work full time or are in multiple classes), live lab sessions through a virtual meeting room so that students can chat, but are also required to be present for a teleconference where they have the ability to communicate with their instructors and ask any questions or contribute to their learning by offering insight or opinions.
I advise several students and providing and receiving feedback is a requirement. I've started using other tools as a means of establishing pending reminders to reach out to some students to ensure that I am offering them quality time to provide further assistance.
Chanel,
I agree this is what you might do in a traditional classroom, but what about an online classroom where you might not see the students? How would you project your presence in an online environment?
Herbert Brown III
