Equitable Teaching Practices: Social Presence

What is Social Presence?

Social presence is the ability to project personality, physical presence, and provide connections.

Instructors have three (ongoing) opportunities to cultivate social presence in their courses.

• Instructor-Student interactions
• Student-Student interactions
• Student-Content interactions

What Are the Goals of Providing Social Presence?

• Reflect similar classroom experience
• Develop a sense of community
• Keep students engaged

How Does Social Presence Play a Role in Equity?

• Social presence effectively addresses equity issues (Harris & Wood, 2020)
• Helps with approachability and resource availability

An Introduction to Social Presence (Webinar)

Watch the webinar below to learn more about social presence and tips for creating social presence in your online classes.

Video run time: 1:04:16

Video transcript of This Course Isn't Taught by a Robot: Creating Instructor Presence in Online Courses Webinar (text file)

Ideas for Implementing Social Presence in Your Classes

Communication Enhancement

• Check-Ins
  • Emails from a place of concern vs. punitive tone
  • Making sure students understand instructions, deadlines
  • Shows that you understand they have other stressors, things to juggle
• Use the Comments Tool in Sakai
  • General place for questions each week
  • Lives on the weekly Lessons page
  • Students can interact with each other

Weekly Introduction Videos (Selfie Videos)

EXAMPLE COMING SOON!

• Short (up to 1-1.5min)
• Brief overview of weekly topic/assignments
• General hello/greeting to the class

Identifying the Gaps Videos (Narrated PowerPoints)

EXAMPLE COMING SOON!

• What do you normally do in the classroom that needs to be in your online course?
• Emphasis important information
• Communicate your expectations and ways to be successful
• Example topics:
  • a syllabus overview
  • exam preparation
  • assignment overviews (including papers)
  • project overviews
  • homework instructions

Additional Resources for Building Social Presence

Opportunities for Social Interaction with Your Online Students (PDF)

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