Students in the Dental Hygiene Program have a very heavy workload. They have classes with face-to-face interactions and some with a blended-learning delivery. To ensure that learners are motivated, engaged and supported, some strategies that could be incorporated to address the Teaching, Social and Cognitive Presences as outlined in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework will be discussed.
Teaching Presence
Students benefit and are motivated when the facilitator is “committed to their learning” (Morrison, 2012, para. 6; Bonk & Khoo, 2014). By providing timely, constructive, supportive and personal feedback on assignments and discussion posts, encourages and motivates the learner by showing them that their work and comments are important to their learning (Morrison, 2012). Having a welcome video message and check-in and summary videos (Morrison, 2012; Bonk & Khoo, 2014) establishes a teaching presence and a social presence. Students can “connect” to the facilitator through the video and know that the facilitator is engaged in the course. By acknowledging that students may be having academic difficulties (Morrison, 2012), is another way for a facilitator to show support throughout the learning process (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2018). The students may have many difficult readings, module activities and online tests, so if the facilitator can suggest additional resources or give encouragement through a video message or synchronous discussion, this will show empathy to the learners’ needs.
Social Presence
“Social presence in online learning stimulates the whole eLearning experience, enhances learners-instructor’s interactions, and improves learner to learner activities as well” (Garcia-O’Neill, 2016). By having students create their profiles including their names and photos, assists students to establish a connection by identifying each other in the online environment. Creating activities where learners share their personal experiences, helps students to learn about and connect with each other. Using learning systems and tools (i.e. Flipgrid, Padlet) that will strengthen the learner experience by helping them to share their thoughts and feelings, will promote learning (Garcia-O’Neill, 2016).
Cognitive Presence
“Cognitive presence develops around two key concepts: practical inquiry and critical thinking” (Beck, 2015), which are essential in our students’ learning. Three strategies that will address this are: (a) creating discussion topics that will have students apply the acquired knowledge from the assigned readings; (b) creating an activity where learners can explore an aspect of the content in greater depth and apply what they are learning in meaningful ways; and (c) having students reflect on and synthesize their learning during and/or at the end of the course.
When the above strategies are incorporated, learners will be motivated, encouraged, supported and engaged in the online environment.
Infographic by Joyce Wimmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
References:
Beck, D. (2015). Community of Inquiry: Cognitive Presence. Retrieved from https://evolllution.com/programming/teaching-and-learning/community-of-inquiry-cognitive-presence/
Bonk, C.J., & Khoo, E.G. (2014). Adding some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ activities for motivating and retaining learners online (PDF). Open World Books. Retrieved from http://tec-variety.com/TEC-Variety_eBook_5-4.pdf
Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2018). Online educators’ recommendations for teaching online: Crowdsourcing in action. Open Praxis, 10(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.1.721
Garcia-O’Neill, E. (2016). Social Presence in Online Learning: 7 Things Instructional Designers Can Do to Improve It. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/social-presence-in-online-learning-7-things-instructional-designers-can-improve
Morrison, D. (2012, August 31). How to Motivate Students in the Online Learning Environment [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/how-to-motivate-
students-in-the-online-learning-environment/
Hello Joyce,
I like how your info-graphic was simple and yet very informative … ‘less is more!’ (something I can get better at personally). It clearly pointed out key strategies that can be leveraged within each of the 3 presences within a Community of Inquiry. I like the examples specifically listed under social presence where you are modelling and encouraging creating profiles and photos, as well as sharing personal experiences.
I wonder if your social presence is targeted only initially as the group forms online, or is the intentions to continue with activities to strengthen and build relationships ongoing with cohort for the duration of the program? If it’s for the duration of the program, what other activities do you see implementing to support this?
Thanks.
Dorothy
Hi Dorothy,
Thank you for your feedback and question.
When I thought about the strategies for social presence, I was keeping in mind methods that our effective facilitators have done. Creating a profile photo really helps us to connect with each other throughout the course – each time a response is posted, one’s photo will be attached. Having learners answer questions which may spark an example from their own real-life experiences really assists with not only having the ability to connect with/relate to someone during an activity, but may develop an ongoing relationship throughout the program. Lastly, having tools such as Padlet and Flipgrid for activities really help learners to connect. When learners have a choice on how they can post their responses (Padlet – audio, video, gif, written; Flipgrid – video or audio if one covers their camera), they will feel safe in this environment especially if there are difficult topics to discuss.
When thinking of other strategies that could be used in our program, I thought that having synchronous discussions such as those that we have in our Collaborate sessions, as well as having an area for informal discussions amongst the learners and I in a platform like Slack or Mattermost.
Cheers!
Joyce,
Thank you for your responses. They are great ways of ongoing engagement and continuous opportunities to strengthen and build upon the relationships already formed initially.
Will you be leveraging any type of group / team assignments where learners can further have opportunities to work closely together in smaller groups, which at times may at times be a great way of also creating stronger relationships and trust amongst the group?
Thanks.
Dorothy
Hi Dorothy,
Great question! Yes, definitely! Having smaller group/team assignments as we have in our MALAT program really does create stronger relationships. In the dental hygiene program, I work with small groups at our offsite clinic. I usually have face-to-face interactions before and after their placements; however, since I have been in this program, I find myself thinking of new opportunities of connecting with the students which will help them to not only trust in me, but trust in each other and themselves. This is an essential trait when they work with vulnerable patients in the community. I haven’t had a chance to work on this project as yet, but am thinking about it! 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Joyce,
I really like the strategy you had to have a welcome video and the check ins and summary videos. This is something that I am wanting to start to incorporate into my own course. How often do you think these videos should be sent out? As well, how long should they be? I find if it gets to long, students will zone out and not actually take in the whole thing?
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for your comment and questions.
As you mentioned, students zone out if a video is too long. According to an edX blog https://blog.edx.org/optimal-video-length-student-engagement, 6 minutes or less is the most ideal length. As for how often these videos should be sent out, I feel that a check-in at mid-week and then the summary at the end of the week would be good to demonstrate that I am engaged/invested in this course as they are.
Cheers!
Reference:
Hazlett, C. (2012, November 13). Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.edx.org/optimal-video-length-student-engagement