Practical Ways to Connect

Connection matters in your face-to-face courses. When the instructor answers your questions, encourages your work, and remembers your name, those interactions reinforce that you belong in this course. Those same connections matter online, too—perhaps even more so. But online those connections are more likely to happen if the instructor creates intentional approaches to foster connection.

When we talk about connection and presence, the “community of inquiry” framework (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 1999) gives us three types of connections to create in our courses: cognitive, social, and teaching. Here are some practical ideas to help you create a teaching presence so your learners see you and know you are there, along with some ideas for creating spaces that foster connection.

Cognitive Presence

This refers to the connections learners create with the course content, or how they connect their lives outside the classroom with their lives inside the classroom. These would be activities like reflecting deeply about connections to course content, drawing new connections, and testing out new ideas and interpretations of materials.


Learners Making Connections

In Teach Students How to Learn, Saundra McGuire talks about the importance of getting learners to be the ones who make the connections. She says, “We don’t have to make the connections for them; in fact it is much better if we don’t. We can just throw a concept out there, like a ball, and ask, ‘What does this remind you of that you have encountered in your everyday life?’ When students hit the ball back, they come up with the most wonderful examples and ideas that give them not only an efficient path to learning and mastery, but also the most efficient path for them” (p.26).


Creative Assignments

By creative assignments,  we mean basically anything that isn’t commonplace in education. The idea is asking the learners, “How would you like to demonstrate your mastery?” and then giving the autonomy for them to react. A practical approach would be to offer a choice in assessment; so either write a paper or create a multimedia project. For ideas about possible assignments, see this page on the Keep Learning website to learn more about infographics, TED-style talks, and portfolios: Ideas for Alternative Assessments Links to an external site.

Social Presence

This is when learners project themselves and their personalities into the online course, thereby presenting themselves as “real people” to their classmates. And sometimes this can be easier in groups of 5–8 people, so consider using smaller groups for class discussions.


Name Stories

Name stories offer the learners a chance to introduce themselves to the class and go beyond the typical name, year, and major. As an option for a class icebreaker you could ask:

  • Who gave you your name and why?
  • What name do you prefer to be called? Pronunciation tips. Pronouns Links to an external site..
  • And what do you already know about the topic of the class?


Video Discussions

Canvas allows participants to post to discussion forums using video in addition to text. Participants can upload a video or record directly into the discussion forums. This gives them the opportunity to see and hear people, and recognize that their classmates are present alongside them. How can I upload a video to a discussion? Links to an external site.

Teaching Presence

This form works with the other two presences, with the instructor helping learners to connect to the course and to each other. This happens in both the design of the course and through active facilitation of learning.


5 Minute Phone Call

A little empathy and humanization go a long way, especially in an online class. Reaching out to your learners with a quick phone call is a simple way to check in and ask how they are feeling about the class. It could be a video call, too, but the phone is simple and doesn’t require internet access.
This could be a call

  • to everyone during the first two weeks of the semester.
  • during midterm to see how you might help the class work better for your learners.
  • if/when a learner suddenly disappears from the course.


Create a Welcome Video

Create a welcome message designed to calm your students’ fears and let them know that you are committed to their continued success. Share how you intend to support them in the course and include any directions or resources students will need to get started. Be sure to include how to best communicate with you (ACUE, 2020).

  • Reassure students that you are there to help them and they should not hesitate to reach out to you.
  • Record yourself. Your videos can be very informal and creative.
  • Use your webcam or smartphone. Try to choose a relatively quiet place with good lighting. If recording on your smartphone, consider using a tripod to keep a steady, centered frame. To make the video more personal, you may also want to record in a fun or relevant setting.

References

ACUE, (2020, March). Welcome to ACUE Online Teaching Toolkit. http://acue.org/online-teaching-toolkit/ Links to an external site.

Darby, Flower. (2019). Small Teaching Online. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2–3), 87–105.

Gorski, Paul C. (2019) Exchanging Stories—Names. Retrieved from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/name.html Links to an external site.

McGuire, S. Y., & McGuire, S. (2015). Teach students how to learn: Strategies you can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and motivation. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing