Category Archives: Community & Interaction Resources

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Online Community-Building

Below is a list of practices I would like to incorporate into future online courses in order to build a stronger learning community.  This list represents practices that are currently not part of my online courses.

– Ask colleagues to test my course website prior to launch and assess ease of navigation and function of technology.

– Include ice-breaking activities beyond the basic biography forum.

– Provide students with information about institutional and other resources.

– Include a general netiquette document in the first week of the course.

– Include guidelines for participation determined by students.

– Add a social Water Cooler discussion area.

– Incorporate more opportunities for synchronous communication, including office hours.

– Use weekly videos to update students about the course.

– Incorporate a formative survey partway through each course.

– Use more Screencasts to explain difficult or visual concepts.

– Add some flexibility in assignments.

– Account for gender differences when building the course activities.

– Include guidelines for ethical standards in the course.

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Tips to Enhance Instructor Presence

As generated by my EDUC 4151 classmates, here are some tips to improve instructor presence in an online course:

– Active involvement in forums

– Timely feedback

– Responsive to students’ needs

– Weekly tutorials

– Sharing personal interests

– Weekly words/quotes

– Taped webinar sessions

– Sending out tips

– Being a role model

– Setting a netiquette policy

– Sharing your own work with students

– Myths and facts exercise