Course:OL Delivery:OTL301:Planning
Social Presence: Engaging and Retaining your Students
Overview
Outcomes
- analyze the characteristics of ‘social presence’ in an effective online learning environment
- identify factors or considerations that contribute to student engagement and retention in distance learning environments.
- evaluate effective course facilitation strategies to increase student engagement and retention.
- create and implement strategies to maximize student engagement in distance learning courses.
- identify at-risk students and apply appropriate retention strategies.
- Establish 3 goals related to improving and enhancing your social presence in your courses
- develop a plan for achieving your goals resulting in an improved and enhanced social presence in your courses.
Links
- NSSE (does NSSE apply to online?)
- Interaction Equivalency Theorem
Course Outline
Week 1 - Welcome and Intro
Outcome
Activities
- Instructor to post short video
- outside activities
- how to contact? (other, later students, social media)
- Participants to post on challenges they have faced in connecting with students in paced or continuous entry courses.
- reading on social presence
Resources
Assessments
Week 2-3 --
Outcome
2&3
Activities
- lit review (NSSE)
- identify a MOOC (Coursera, EdX...)
- rate according to engagement and retention strategies or models
- identify strategies for improving engagement and retention in distance learning
Resources
Assessments
Week 4-5 --
Outcome
4 & 5
Activities
- video creation module from CMS
- case study
- create video resource explaining suggested strategies to engage with the class depicted in the case study and maximize student retention
Resources
Assessments
Week 6 --
Outcomes
6-7
Activities
- Review and summarize 2-3 current articles on enhancing teaching presence
- interview a peer or expert
- analyze peer's engagement strategies
- based on the research and your analysis of their engagement and retention practices identify 2-3 goals relevant to enhance social presence in your courses.
- Present strategies for achieving your goals