Redefining Presence — How to “Be There” for Online Learners

 

In traditional classrooms, presence is physical. In online learning, it's about intentionality. It’s about being seen, heard, and felt even when you’re not live on screen.

 

In Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching, we define presence as a multidimensional experience that we co-create with our learners. Presence shows up in the way we design our courses, facilitate interactions, and respond with care.

 

Ways to build presence include:

• Weekly announcements and videos: Let students hear your voice, see your face, and feel your enthusiasm.
• Timely and personalized responses: Acknowledging student efforts and struggles builds connection.
• Thoughtful course layout: Clarity and consistency reflect care.

 

Presence is not accidental—it is constructed through the use of strategic tools and

 

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass. 

 

How do you create and maintain presence in your online teaching? We’d love to hear your stories in the forum.

 

Being There from Afar: Cultivating Presence in Online Teaching

 

In the rapidly evolving landscape of online education, fostering a genuine sense of presence is paramount to creating engaging and compelling learning experiences. The book Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to "Be There" for Distance Learners by Rosemary M. Lehman and Simone C. O. Conceição offers invaluable insights into achieving this goal.​

 

Understanding Presence in Online Learning

Lehman and Conceição (2010) delve into the multifaceted concept of presence, emphasizing its social, psychological, and emotional dimensions. They argue that a strong sense of presence bridges the physical gap inherent in distance education and enhances student engagement and satisfaction.​

 

Practical Strategies for Educators

The authors present the "Being There for the Online Learner Model," a comprehensive framework designed to help educators cultivate presence in their virtual classrooms. Key strategies include:​

• Intentional Course Design: Crafting interactive and learner-centered courses, ensuring that content and activities promote active engagement.​
• Effective Communication: Utilizing diverse communication tools to maintain regular and meaningful student interactions, fostering a supportive learning environment.​
• Community Building: Encouraging collaboration through group projects and discussion forums to create a sense of community among learners.​

 

Complementary Insights from the Field

The blog "Conversations about Online Teaching and Learning" echoes these principles, particularly in its discussion on retention strategies for at-risk online learners. It highlights the importance of early identification and personalized interventions, such as tailored outreach and flexible learning options, to support student success. Moreover, the blog emphasizes the need for clear course structures and the cultivation of a community to mitigate feelings of isolation among online learners.​

 

Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching serves as a vital resource for educators aiming to enhance their online teaching practices. By implementing the strategies outlined by Lehman and Conceição (2010) and integrating insights from ongoing conversations in the field, instructors can create immersive and supportive online learning environments that promote student engagement and retention.​

 

Reference

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. O. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to "Be There" for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass.

Institutional Issues and Challenges Related to Instructor Workload

 

We only need to look around to see that the landscape of higher education is being transformed due to increasing market demands for online learning. To remain competitive, institutions need to embrace the concept of online education rather than fear it, acknowledge its benefits and limitations, and act upon it.

As institutions embrace online education and online instructors become involved, educational and instructional issues and challenges must be faced. Policy personnel need to be aware of the impact of online courses on institutional growth and equally important, they need to understand what is involved in online instructor training and the impact online teaching will have on an instructor’s workload. Online teaching is demanding and doesn’t just happen!

Designing for teaching online calls for intentional design and creating a sense of presence and connection between the instructor and learners (Lehman & Conceição, 2010.) Creating a sense of presence involves an awareness and understanding of how to “be there” for the online learner to bring the “human aspect” into the online environment. Teaching online also requires a distinctive type of management to help instructors find success and balance in their lives.

The Design Process Difference

The process for designing, delivering, and evaluating online instruction is different than the process used for face-to-face instruction. From a design perspective, the type of management for an online instructor depends on the components of the design process (such as content type, course format, strategies, instructor role, technology, and support) and factors that influence workload (such as number of courses taught, learner enrollment, position held, and instructor responsibilities).

References

Conceição, S. C. O, Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. O. (2010). Creating a sense of presence in online teaching: How to “be there” for distance learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Strategies for Finding Balance and Success – DESIGN

 

The first workload strategy is DESIGN. Instructors use the following design strategies to manage workload:

• pre-planning to make sure that everything is ready prior to the beginning of the course for their learners 
• anticipating all course responsibilities and plotting them on a grid or timeline to see the "big picture" 
• prioritizing course activities to easily see which ones need more time and which less 
• anticipating learners’ needs so that needs are met before they become concerns 
• reflecting on and revising courses already taught so that the courses are up-to-date and relevant.

 

The more instructors can pre-plan and visualize the "big picture" the less they will have to be concerned with time-consuming issues during the actual course delivery. 

 

Next week, we'll look at: 2. SUPPORT STRATEGIES.

References

 

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

 

Using a Template to Preplan for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time

 

By using a template to manage workload for online instruction you can preplan your design and delivery responsibilities and tasks.

First, you'll need to become familiar with the online course design components that will help to make the virtual seem "real" for your students. Because these components are tangible they can be converted into tasks and time.

Our "Template for Managing Tasks and PrioritizingTime," contained in our book Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success can serve as a guide for workload and time spent when creating your online course of any kind:

1.    a new course

2.    conversion of a face-to-face course to online course

3.    revision of a course you've already taught online

The template will guide you in identifying and laying out each course sequence, the type of tasks within each sequence, the period during the course when each sequence takes place, and the estimated time spent on each task. 

For new online courses, the template can help you estimate tasks and time spent during the course design and delivery.

For a converted course, the template can help with the process of rethinking how to teach the course in the new environment.

For existing online courses, the template can help you revisit tasks and time spent and become more efficient when teaching the same course again. We hope you enjoy using the template!

References

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

Types of Course Tasks and Using a Design Framework

 

Becoming aware of the tasks that instructors need to accomplish when teaching online is the critical first step in designing an online course. In doing this, instructors can better plan, prioritize, and manage their course workload. The course tasks that we’ve identified in our book, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success can be grouped into four types:

1.    Design

2.    Administrative

3.    Facilitative

4.    Evaluative

Once the tasks are identified, we suggest you use an instructional design process for a systematic approach. Using this process, you will be able to take into consideration the multi-faceted components of your course and create a blueprint for the teaching and learning experience.

The next step is to select a model or framework for developing your course. The framework we’ve developed, “Framework for Designing Online Courses With a Sense of Presence,” can assist you in identifying the multiple components of your online course, planning and designing prior to course delivery, managing the instructional process to ensure the desired learning outcomes, and integrating a “sense of presence.” When you've completed this, we suggest using a template to help you manage your tasks and prioritize your time. 

References

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

Why is it important to understand presence when creating and designing online courses?

 

As the Internet evolves in an informal social direction (Internet-based social networking tools), it points to the importance of creating a sense of presence in the more formal setting of teaching and learning online. Understanding presence and how to create and design presence for online courses is “key.”

There is a difference between creating informal social presence for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and creating presence for online courses. In the more informal setting, we create presence spontaneously. In the more formal setting of online courses, we need to make a concerted effort to be aware of the intentions of others and their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We need to use a systematic approach and “intentionally design.”