Online Activities During Your Course

 

A variety of activities can be incorporated during your course to engage learners: instructor-led activities, logistical (non-content) and instructional (content) activities, and cooperative and collaborative activities. These activities will enhance a sense of presence through emotional, personal, and team/group connection. First, look at your course scope and sequence, then design and integrate activities that will help realize your course objectives/outcomes. These activities might include Twitter announcements, electronic office hours, mini-lectures with feedback opportunities, guest experts with interviews, debates, participant audios and videos (Podcasts, YouTube, etc.), trigger videos (playing a short video sequence that leads to discussion), blogs, case studies, digital storytelling, group discussions, group and team projects, and virtual projects. 

Reference

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

 

Online Activities Before Your Course Begins

Before your course begins is the perfect time to obtain information about your learners' backgrounds and interests and share information about yourself. Use an Individual Data Sheet or a Biographical Sharing Form. This provides an opportunity for you to connect and start creating a sense of presence with course participants. Another excellent way to orient students before your course begins is to involve them in a Course Scavenger Hunt. This activity can welcome them to the course, help them get to know each other, guide them through the specifics of the course, introduce them to netiquette, help them become familiar with the different locations on the course site, introduce them to team and group work, and begin course readings. Orientation activities not only start before the course begins, but often last through the first week.

 

Reference

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

Thoughts on Creating a Sense of Online Presence

 

 

 

As technology continues to evolve, we are no longer limited to physical interactions. We can connect with others worldwide as the boundaries between the real and the virtual worlds dissolve. Information and knowledge are now in the palm of our hands, and we can access them through the tips of our fingers. But - having and accessing information in a casual way does not necessarily mean that we are learning. Learning, as the process of making sense of information and constructing and applying knowledge in formal online settings, requires a different way of thinking, feeling, and behaving that gives the illusion of being together with the instructor and with others. It requires creating a sense of presence. 

 

Reference

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

Creating Presence Activities at the End of the Course

 

During the last three weeks of the online course, as learners become more independent, confident, and focused on what they need to complete the course, instructor presence will most likely lessen. To maintain the flow of the course and help learners complete their final tasks, special attention should be given to communication between the instructor and learners. Create an environment for rich feedback in group or teamwork, in assignment performance, and design an activity that will bring closure to the course.

 

Reference

 

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

Creating Presence Activities During the Online Course

 

The same approach used for designing experiences that create presence before the online course begins should also be used for the creation of activities during the course. During the course you will want to intentionally involve learners in interactive activities (you with your learners, learners and learners with you, and learners with learners in a group or team.) 

Our book provides many activity examples of both educational and logistical activities. If the format of the learning experience is self-paced, the interactive activities should focus on one-on-one with your learner. If the format is team or group-based the focus should be on cooperative or collaborative activities. Logistical activities, which are non-content based, are also very important during the course. 

Reference

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