An Introduction To Presences in an Online Course

Teaching presence includes both the planning and forethought that go into building your course and what you do "in the moment" when interacting with your students. The parts of teaching presence that occur while the course is in session include facilitation of discourse and direct instruction.

Direct instruction is the more straightforward of the two and would include pre-developed presentations, assessing student work and providing instructive feedback, diagnosing misconceptions, clarifying concepts, and referring students to additional resources or practice opportunities.

Facilitating discourse is more than simply requiring students to post to a discussion and reply to others. It involves regularly reading and providing feedback on student postings, encouraging participation, moving the discussion forward when it stalls or gets off track, identifying and drawing out areas of agreement and disagreement, pointing out linkages, and helping students articulate shared understandings. Immediacy behaviors can be helpful when facilitating discourse. Things like referring to students by name, encouraging student-student conversation, sharing personal examples from your own research, travel, or conversations with other faculty contribute to both social and teaching presence.

Cormier and Siemans (2010) also suggest several roles instructors can take to provide active teaching presence in an online course:

Amplifying - Drawing attention to important ideas/concepts, both in the course materials and in student comments or other work.
Curating - Selecting and arranging readings, videos, and other resources to scaffold concepts
Aggregating - Finding and displaying patterns in discussions and other communications
Modeling - Demonstrate the skills you expect from your students - both in terms of interaction and analysis

It is important to stay present throughout the course - not just at the beginning of the semester. Maintaining continual instructor presence during the course, particularly during natural activity lulls, keeps students motivated and engaged. Students need the structure and leadership of your active teaching presence to move from surface learning to a deeper level of engaged learning. This can take the form of:

defining clear expectations for student work and interactions,
selecting and sequencing manageable sections of content,
facilitating discourse with engaging questions and challenges to test understanding, as well as by modeling appropriate contributions to the discussion,
structuring both collaborative and individual activities that are aligned with desired learning outcomes, and
assessing learning at a deeper, more complex level and providing feedback on learning processes.

Feedback as an Example of Teaching Presence

Giving feedback on assignments is a critical part of the direct instruction component of teaching presence. It provides a natural opportunity for one-to-one teaching presence while supporting student learning. Getzlaf, et al (2009) describe effective feedback as

a mutual process involving both student and instructor
providing constructive guidance that builds confidence
guiding through explicit expectations and ongoing coaching
meeting mutually established timelines
being applicable to future situations

In an online course it is important for students to get frequent feedback on how they are doing. Are they learning what they are supposed to be learning? Are they achieving the learning outcomes? The most effective way to ensure that students get the feedback they need to stay on track is through a comprehensive, balanced assessment strategy that includes both formative and summative assessments. You can even have students provide peer feedback if you supervise it well.

There are several ways to provide feedback in Canvas: individual written, audio, or video feedback through Speed Grader or via an Inbox message; group feedback in the group space via a group announcement or discussion forum; and aggregated class feedback via whole class announcements or discussion forums.

However you choose to provide feedback, it is important that the feedback be provided in a timely manner and that it include specific suggestions for improvement. For more information on providing good feedback see 7 Keys to Effective Feedback

Being Present from the Beginning: Introducing yourself to your class

While being present throughout the course is critical, starting as you mean to go on is also important. Providing a personal video introduction at the start of the course allows students to see you as a human being which can mitigate the anonymity of text-based conversation and encourage human connections.

One of the first things you normally do in your class is introduce yourself. In an online class, introductions are even more important as they are one of the first points of contact with you as an instructor and likely the first one where they see you visually. Video introductions help your students feel more connected to you and lets them know there is a real, live faculty member behind the course. They support teaching presence, which is essential to online success. Research on video introductions indicates that they can improve student engagement at the beginning of the course and encourage positive student perceptions of you as the instructor.

By beginning the semester by personally introducing yourself and sharing your background, expertise, and interests in a welcoming manner, you can show your students that you are approachable and interested in their learning. Creating a basic introduction video is also a great way to start thinking about using video and audio more generally, which diversifies the methods of communication and information delivery in your course. Simple webcam recordings are fine as long as you make sure your lighting and audio are good.

Cognitive presence is central to successful student learning. The quality of cognitive presence reflects the quality and quantity of critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and construction of meaning occurring in student↔student and student↔faculty interactions. You can model and support cognitive presence in your interactions with students in discussions, assignment feedback, and other communications.

Cognitive presence is based on the iterative relationship between personal understanding and shared dialogue. Building on the work of John Dewey, Garrison proposed the Practical Inquiry Model shown here. This model integrates these two aspects in a cycle beginning with a question or puzzle - called a triggering event - or just a general awareness that something isn't making sense. The learner then explores the available information and alternatives to make sense of the problem and connects this new information to previously learned concepts. Finally, the learner takes action to solve the problem or answer the question based on their newly integrated understanding.

The overlap between cognitive presence and teaching presence, labeled "Regulating Learning" in the Community of Inquiry diagram on the first page or this module, focuses on the co-regulation of learning and metacognition by both the instructor and the students. Paz and Pereira (2015) found several categories within Regulating Learning including:

Confirming understanding of tasks
Assessing learning strategies and work processes and/or proposing corrections to those processes
Reminding others of tasks and encouraging them to focus on or contribute to tasks, resources, and activities
Helping with tasks, processes, or products of learning
Managing the movement through learning phases or tasks

Students also exhibit some of these aspects as self-regulation and as co-regulation in groups.

Depending on the course and the instructor, the amount of learning regulation will vary. More self-directed graduate students will need less co-regulation than first year undergraduate students. For example, effectively moderating online discussion is an important strategy for supporting cognitive presence. Moderating and modeling the way in which a beginner in the field should be thinking through a question, problem, or case may occur more often in undergraduate classes as the students begin to learn how to learn in the field. It is important to realize that simply interacting with others or with the content does not automatically translate into critical discourse or the integration of ideas into meaningful constructs (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005).

Social Presence

Social presence is important especially at the beginning of the semester when students are getting to know and trust both you and one another. If students can make interpersonal connections with others, they are more likely to engage with the course and the content. Indicators of Social Presence include

Affective responses such as expressing emotion and using humor
Interactive responses such as continuing a discussion thread, referring to other students in a message or post, asking questions, and expressing agreement or appreciations
Cohesive responses such as using other students' names, using inclusive pronouns to refer to their group or class, and engaging in small talk

The overlap of social and teaching presence, labeled as "Setting Climate" in the Community of Inquiry diagram, includes critical aspects of building a positive learning environment.

Parker and Harrington's (2015) research indicates four main aspects.

Creating a usable learning environment
Building positive rapport by using open, friendly communication, being approachable, and showing respect, courtesy, and patience
Engendering a sense of belonging by addressing students by name, encouraging participation, and publicly or privately recognizing progress and achievement
Promoting a sense of purpose by regularly monitoring student performance, providing constructive and timely feedback, and clearly articulating course goals,

Students also exhibit some of these aspects when working in groups. Behaviors such as monitoring each other's progress and holding each other accountable for work quality and deadlines in groups sets the climate for their group. Effective group work also hinges on trust and comfort level with other students so building positive rapport and a sense of belonging is vital to setting group norms and participating in efficient collaboration.

In an online class, it is difficult but not impossible for students to get to know each other and you on a more personal level. Providing a space for students to introduce themselves to the class - preferably with video - is a good start to help students see each other as a "real people" and not just a name on a screen. Students can embed videos of themselves into Canvas Discussions.