Though we’ve understood the basics of online presence for about 15 years, there is new research that affirms, adjusts, and adds to our knowledge. So, let’s go through social, instructional, and cognitive presence, and remake our understanding of how to best reach, teach, and motivate our students.
Though we’ve understood the basics of online and instructor presence for about 15 years, there is new research that affirms, adjusts, and adds to our knowledge of online presence. Some of the biggest changes are in the tech – online classes are more mobile and more accessible. We also have new research on how online presence intersects with important concepts like equity, variety, student motivation, humanizing the online classroom, and audio and video.
In addition, we’ve learned a lot in the past two years about helping students feel more comfortable and confident in online learning, reaching students who are reluctant, and how to better replicate the benefits of in-person social presence.
So, let’s go through the three kinds of online presence (social, instructional, and cognitive) for faculty and remake our understanding of how to best reach, teach, and motivate our students.