Close your eyes and imagine the differences between the
face-to-face and online environments. In the face-to-face environment, you can
see your learners, hear their voices, and touch concrete objects. You can
easily move among your learners, have eye-contact, feel a very personal sense
of closeness, hear voice nuance, read body language, and demonstrate concepts.
However, in the online environment everything is very elusive. You must think
much more carefully about how you can relate to and engage your learners,
create a sense of closeness, and describe your actions. In this environment,
preplanning, intentional design, explicit instructions, and creating a sense of
presence become essential.
Planning, intentional design, creating explicit instructions, and creating
presence require time, energy, and creativity and can influence instructor
workload. Workload is determined by
- the course discipline
- the course format
- interactive strategies
- the instructor role
- technologies
- support
For the Determinants of Presence, see our book, Creating
a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching.
The issue for instructors is to understand and think about what makes the
online environment different. The challenge is to think with a new mindset
about designing and delivering instruction, developing instructional strategies
that work in the online environment, and creating a sense of presence that will
make the virtual environment feel more real and personal. At the same time,
instructors need to be mindful of workload. This is a challenge, but it can be
realized.
References
Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass.
Lehman, R. M. & Conceição, S. C. O. (2011). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
