Presence and Tone Online: What and Why

A focused and consistent instructor presence is essential for keeping students engaged, informed, challenged and motivated. In an online class your tone and presence need to be more intentionally delivered than in a face-to-face class. Students want to know you are there and know that you care. We have all heard the adage "...you only get one chance to make a first impression.." this is especially true online. From 11 Tips for Setting the Tone in Your Online Course, "Each item you post—email, discussion message, announcement, etc.—must be created with much thought, and none is more important than the first post to your class...

Some tips :

Make your first lines friendly, warm, caring.
Give students tips on how to do well.
Let them know you want them to succeed.
And.... read everything twice, putting yourself in your students shoes, to make sure the message is conveyed in the tone you mean!"

Tone always matters and you have to explicitly convey tone online. Students might not always be able to see and hear you in your online delivery of materials but they will always interpret your tone.

Strategies

Your first impression is critical but it is equally important to maintain that level of humanity throughout the course--just as you do in your face to face classroom. Keep this intent in mind whether you are giving feedback, writing an email, creating a video or leaving an audio message.

Establishing an Online Presence: Five Effective Strategies

1. Introduction Email: tell your students something unique about you.

2. Instructor Biography: create a professional summary and include what you love about the subject you teach.

3. Introduction to the Week: create a written intro on a Canvas page or via video. A simple introduction framing the weekly take aways serves as a warm welcome when they first open your module's front door.

4. Synchronous Office Hours: the opportunity to meet with an instructor in real time is vital to an online course. Use your phone or Zoom--how you do it is not as important as knowing that there is an opportunity to do it.

5. Personalized language: First person language-- "I can't wait to meet each of you in Zoom" sends a personal message versus "The instructor uses Zoom to meet with you each week."

6. Consistent Communication: send consistent announcements or weekly check-ins throughout the term so your students know what to expect, and when to expect it.

7. Discussion Contribution: participate in class discussions, or bring examples from the discussion to the announcements you send out.

Your goal is to inject more humanity and community into your online course and let your students experience one of the most important aspects of it--YOU.

Showcase

Dr. Linda DelVecchio-Gilbert, Nursing faculty, has over 19 years of experience caring for children with complex chronic conditions. In the NUR520 Advanced Physical Assessment course she demonstrates how to establish tone and humanity in writing, welcoming her students to Week 8 and giving them hints on enhancing their upcoming assignments.

Hi Everyone,

WHAT??? Did someone say "Week 8"? Yes!!!! Three weeks left, and I look forward to seeing what the last few weeks will bring along.

Reflecting on Week 7....

Overall, very nice job with the presentations this week. When listening them, I hear a lot of “uh” or “um”. Play back your recording and imagine that you are not you, but instead you are Lionel Logue, the Australian speech and language therapist who works with King George VI in The King’s Speech. What would he hear? What would he say? What would he recommend?