Evaluate your Presence as an Online Instructor

The following guide helps instructors and designers explore online instructor presence. You can use this tool to create or evaluate a course or to guide your own professional development. It also can be used for new teachers to explore areas of growth. This tool is meant to be a conversation with self or others and will help you identify these unique components of instructor presence in your class. In addition to your own growth and exploration, this guide ensures students understand your plan for their learning; how they should expect to engage with you and their classmates; and how to access materials when they need them. As you design, review, and improve your course, you can go through this guide by asking the questions and writing down answers. It works with new and experienced instructors, different disciplines, and diverse learning modalities. This guide is meant to be exploratory, conversational, and longitudinal. Please remember that there is no one way to teach an online course and this tool is provides space for you to be you . . . all while demonstrating your online presence.

You can download a printable version of this reflection tool here.

What could be improved?	Performance Standards	What is going well?
	How do you help students understand the course plan? When students understand the course plan, it lowers their affective filter and allows them to engage in the content of the class. They can observe your presence in the updated, personalized, & structured content in your course. If they don’t understand course organization, and/or see past dates & outdated content, it can prevent them from active participation, effective content transfer, and student/instructor engagement.
	How do you earn and maintain student attention? A professor that engages consistently, creatively, and clearly with students earns their attention, and helps them to stay attentive and interested in course participation. Students may disengage with the course if they feel that their instructor is not involved.
	Do students have what they need when they need it? Providing a variety of ways for students to get the help they need when they need it will help students succeed in the course, build relationships, and maintain their commitment to higher education. When students have questions in an online environment, it can be frustrating for them not to have access to an answer that will help them move forward with their work.
	How do students know you are present in the course? Think about how you want students to perceive your involvement, availability, personality, creativity, and expertise. Students want to know that their instructor is present, cares, and that the course is specific to them at this point in time. Ensuring that students know their instructor is present increases retention, course success, and enjoyment for student AND teacher.

Ideas for Meeting the Standards

1. How do you help students understand the course plan?

Structure the course in a well-organized manner, making it intuitive and easy for students to navigate.
Acknowledge course structure to make the implicit expectations of your course more explicit.
In addition to the syllabus, provide course organization documents such as an alignment map, schedule, or calendar.
Have them complete a quiz based on the syllabus.
Communicate the value of course tasks, activities, and assessments to students.
Connect the course tasks to larger aspirations, personal growth, “big picture” career goals, etc.
Finish updates to the course prior to the start of the course.
Make sure all dates are correct and old instructor or past information is removed.
Add a video course “tour” to show students how to navigate the course and access content.
Consider context:
- With COVID-19, how can you help ensure that your course policies reflect current circumstances and flexibility?
- What institutional factors may help? (e.g. university LMS orientations for students)
- What is your student population, and how does it inform your course structure?

2. How do you earn and maintain student attention?

Post a personal video introduction prior to the first week so students can “get to know you” as a person and a professional.
Personalize your course so your strengths and expertise are visible, even your humor!
Provide an activity where learners introduce themselves, to build a community of learners & so you can get to know them, their interests, and abilities.
Provide a forum asking, “Why are you taking this class?”. Following with a mid-semester check in referring back to their “why” answer. 
Offer creative assignments, opportunities for student’s voice to be heard, and to co-create the learning environment.
Use technology that is fun, engaging, and reinforces your learning.
Chunk information. Written, audio, and video material should be divided into shorter 5–15-minute chunks.
Consider embedding surprise extra-credit opportunities in announcements, emails, etc. to “lighten things up.”
Actively utilize and engage diverse perspectives in teaching materials and practices.
Bring in career-relevant and current-event examples to make material applicable to students’ lives.
Incorporate active, hands-on activities that are collaborative, practice-based, and/or student-led.
Offer opportunities for students to provide feedback before the end of the course.

3. Do students have what they need when they need it?

Respond promptly to student communications.
Reach out proactively to your students with upcoming deadlines, expectations, directions, potential pitfalls, and class progress.
Meet your stated deadlines.
Let students know what type of feedback to expect on different assignments and where to find it.
Provide timely and appropriate feedback (e.g. completion credit; formative/summative feedback; automated feedback; or detailed feedback).
Quick, less-detailed responses and feedback can be better than delayed but extremely-thorough feedback.
Consider including a discussion forum where learners can ask and answer class-related questions and another one for non-class-related questions.
Post answers to frequently asked questions in the course.
Provide feedback in videos, voice, written, and in person.
Invite 1:1 student/instructor interactions (i.e., virtual office hours, appointments, drop-ins, synchronous sessions, etc.)
Accessibility and reasonable accommodations are provided and present in your course so all students can succeed. Instructor communicates with students about their needs for course.

4. How do students know you are present?

State your plan for communication (i.e., email, chat, office hours, invite disagreement, etc.)
Share your plan for timeliness & types of feedback (i.e., “Instructor will respond within 24 hours on weekdays or by Sunday night on weekends, term papers may take up to 1-2 weeks to grade, etc.),” so students do not feel they are being ignored and faculty do not feel on call 24/7.
Online students cannot judge body language or unspoken communication; expectations need to be explicit, clear and friendly. Consider being transparent by writing down your emotion and/or doing video/voice communication.
Offer virtual or face-to-face office hours.
Create and participate in meaningful discussions aligned with learning outcomes and with opportunities for critical thinking.
Actively engage with students utilizing a variety of methods (e.g., discussions, announcements, etc.) to foster dialogue around course content and UDL.
How much time you should expect from student and your own participation and course facilitation? Check with your institution, and make sure to give online learning as much time as you would for classroom base learning.
Partner with your students to create the learning environment with clear expectations regarding assignments, grading, and “classroom” decorum.
Consider how you uphold academic integrity and hold students accountable. (i.e., educate students about integrity, utilize plagiarism detection tools, report plagiarism, etc.).

Are you on the right track? Signs that students are engaged:

Students engage with course content in meaningful ways.
Students share their own resources and knowledge with the group.
Students answer each other’s questions.
Students engage with instructor and peers.
Students provide feedback (both positive and negative).
Students ask questions related to the task at hand.
Students demonstrate that they understand the syllabus & course organization.
Students adequately complete tasks and assignments and meet deadlines.

Want more?

**Acknowledgement: Institutional and societal factors impact how students and our institutions perceive our presence, give attention, and interact with our courses. Some folx may implement and think about all of these suggestions and still face perceived lack of presence, structure, or attention in their courses or instruction based on their identities or hierarchy in the organization.

This resource was created by an MSU Denver Faculty Learning Community 3/2021. Please contact: Dr. Rebecca Cottrell [email protected]