The concept of teaching presence is broad it clearly evident in how we show up in our course, for example how we check in with students and how engaging you are in synchronous sessions. However, even the way that we sequence and set up our course content is part of our teaching presence in a course

Think about your in-person classes and how you design PowerPoint slides and worksheets and how you select and share readings with students. When you are teaching online it is useful to consider how you develop and share content and how this is part of your presence in the course.

On day 1 of the course, we discussed the idea of sequencing and creating a predictable rhythm within the course

Provide a Module Roadmap

One way to sequence your module by using a module roadmap. By creating a consistent module structure that you repeat each week or unit of study you can help students navigate your course more easily. One way to start developing this structure is to use a tool below to outline the module using the Module Roadmap tool below. From there you may want to prototype your module directly into Canvas. This will help you understand what your overall module and week will look like.

Module Roadmap Tool: Association of College and University of Educators

Create a Predictable Rythm

Another way that you can create a teaching presence by organizing your course into a predictable rhythm. This rhythm will help your students organize their time and can add predictability to your course. An example of this rhythm might look like:

Mondays: Course Announcement and Discussion Assignments

Tuesdays: Reflection and one-on-one check-ins

Wednesdays: Project work in teams

Thursdays: Review and integration

Fridays: Week-in-review announcement, self-practic

To start, take a look at the Association of Colleges and University Educators example of a course rhythm for participation.