Building Trust & Effective Communication

1. Building Trust & Effective Communication Alisa Cooper, EdD dr.coop@gmail.com Faculty, Assistant Chair/eCourses Coordinator English Department Glendale Community College

2. Building Community • Using social media • Establishing presence/ humanize course • Student to student interactions

3. Using Social Media

4. Presence • Social Presence – “the ability of students to project themselves socially and affectively into a community of inquiry. ” • Cognitive Presence – “the extent to which students are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained discourse in a community of inquiry. ” • Teaching Presence – “the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the realization of personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes .” • Garrison, Anderson, Rourke, and Archer, 2002.

5. Establishing Presence • Facilitating Discourse • Direct Instruction • Instructional Design & Organization

6. Facilitating Discourse • Identifying areas of agreement and disagreement. • Seeking to reach consensus and understanding. • Encouraging, acknowledging, and reinforcing student contributions. • Setting the climate for learning. • Drawing in participants, prompting discussion/interaction. • Assessing the efficacy of the process.

7. Direct Instruction • Presenting content and questions • Focusing the discussion. • Summarizing the discussion. • Confirming understanding. • Diagnosing misperceptions. • Injecting knowledge from diverse sources. • Responding to technical concerns.

8. Instructional Design & Organization • Setting the curriculum. • Designing methods. • Establishing time parameters. • Utilizing the medium effectively. • Establishing netiquette.

9. Humanizing the Course • Humanizing increases student comfort level and reduces psychological distance between instructor and student (DuCharme-Hansen, Dupin-Bryant, 2005) • Greater investment by students has been shown as a result of incorporating humanizing elements into online courses (DuCharme-Hansen, Dupin-Bryant, 2005) • “Instructor immediacy behaviors have been found to create a positive affect toward the instructor and the subject matter and to be positive predictors of student learning and satisfaction in distance education courses.” (Jones, Kolloff & Kolloff, 2008) https://deltawire.delta.ncsu.edu/research/welcoming-students-in-an-online-course/

10. Humanize the Course • Create an introductory video or audio recording • Write a welcome letter or email • Schedule a synchronous online meeting • Use a tool like Voicethread or Audacity to create instructor and student introduction • Pair students and have them interview and produce introductions for their partner or consider another • Have students share their location using a tool like Google Maps • Set up a profile and incorporate pictures into introductions • Assign students to groups to create a buddy system • Create an online class lounge (i.e. a discussion thread, chat room) where students can meet informally to ask questions and share their experiences as well as incorporate images, web sites or individual blogs https://deltawire.delta.ncsu.edu/research/welcoming-students-in-an-online-course/

11. Student to Student Interactions

12. Discuss: Checkpoint Questions • In reviewing your content activities or interactions, do you feel like the content you selected to deliver face-to-face is best suited for that delivery mode? And the online content best suited for that delivery mode?

13. Discuss: Checkpoint Questions • How are you using the online or out of class time? To • reinforce content, • practice content, • demonstrate evidence of content mastery, • apply content, • add time on task, • introduce new content, or • other? • Considering areas of particular difficulty in conveying or comprehending course content or concepts in this module, what mechanisms are you using (online or face-to-face) to support learning?

14. Accountability and Integration Ask (handout) • What is the role of out of class time? • How can I maximize the face-to-face class time? • How can I make sure my students are prepared for face-to-face class time? • Reinforcement • Practice • Provide evidence • Application • Additional time on task • Introduce new content • Other