6.2 Establishing teaching presence

In 4.2 Understanding engagement in online courses in Module 4, we introduced a key component of effective teaching, teaching presence - the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes to achieve learning outcomes (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000). Teaching presence includes both the planning that goes into your online course and what you do "in the moment" when interacting with your students. Teaching presence is crucial for achieving deep and meaningful learning outcomes. It is important to maintain teaching presence throughout the course - not just at the beginning of the semester. Maintaining on-going teaching presence keeps students motivated and engaged.

In this video, Stoo Sepp (UBC, ETS) explains the importance of presence in online teaching.

Creating teaching presence online

Creating a teaching presence online requires regular engagement with your students. These recommendations on creating an online teaching presence are adapted from the University of Windsor’s Office of Open Learning Links to an external site., and are based upon the work of Garrison, Anderson and Archer Links to an external site. (2000), Chickering and Ehrmann Links to an external site. [pdf](1996), and Darby and Lang Links to an external site. (2020).

Communicate. Use a welcoming, inclusive tone in announcements and emails. Send a course-wide announcement at least once per week. Check and respond to email and discussion forums frequently throughout the week. If your course has a TA, ask them to assist with facilitating and monitoring the discussion board conversations and responding to emails.
Mix it up. Plan a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities which can allow you to engage students in different ways (see 4.3 Designing for interaction in Module 4 for more information). The majority of students at UBC have indicated they prefer having a combination of synchronous and asynchronous elements in their online courses (McPhee & Lyon, 2020 [pdf}).
Help students plan. Actively engage students in the learning process. Clearly describe what students should be doing throughout the week and send them reminders. On average, plan for your students to engage in 6-9 hours of learning activities per week (this calculator can help you estimate workload Links to an external site.).
Write or record short weekly overviews outlining key learning activities for the week.
Provide prompt feedback on assignments and assessments.
Flexible office hours. Be flexible with how office hour support is made available and offered, remember that students may be balancing challenging workloads and/or be in different timezones.
Be visible. It's important to be available and responsive to your students through multiple modes – email, discussion forums, virtual classroom, but set boundaries, you are not expected to be available 24/7.
Set a good example. Model the behaviour you expect from students, through emails, announcements, starter and wrap up discussion posts, and make that modelling visible (i.e. explicitly discuss the model).
Consider technology needs. Students may be sharing a device, and may have poor internet access. Before using high bandwidth tools and practices, consider whether there is a low cost and low-tech alternative Links to an external site.. Consider surveying students in the first week or before class starts to find out what technology they have access to and their experience in online learning.
Check in. If you notice any students disengaging, try to help them stay focused through frequent feedback, contact, and monitoring engagement in the Canvas course (e.g., dashboard, discussion forum, etc.) with tools such as On Task.
Keep accessibility in mind. Consider principles of accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Links to an external site. in all your pedagogical decisions. (More on this topic in 7.4 Creating an equitable and accessible environment in Module 7).

We also recommend that you practice pedagogies of care Links to an external site.. These are unusual times and we need to both care for ourselves and our students. That means making pedagogical decisions that are based in caring. Do what you reasonably can with the best interests of your students and yourself in mind. Trust your students and know that some may be experiencing trauma and dislocation, may be caring for loved ones, and may be facing financial distress. During the transition to remote learning in March 2020, students reported being “unable to focus on studies due to non-academic-related challenges” as the most prevalent challenge (~75%) they faced in the transitioning to the online context (McPhee & Lyon, 2020 [pdf]).

Andrew McAllister discusses creating teaching presence with both synchronous and asynchronous teaching approaches. In this video, McAllister references the immediacy and bandwidth diagram by Daniel Stanford, which is referenced in 4.7 Considerations for equity and inclusion in Module 4.