Teacher Presence in the Online Course - Opportunities and Challenges

Imagine you are a seminary or institute student walking into class on the first day. The first thing you notice is that no one is talking to each other. You try to strike up a conversation, but everyone stares at their phones. While waiting for your teacher to arrive, some of your classmates fall asleep. Some browse the internet or work on school assignments. Others even leave the classroom. After you’ve waited for ten minutes, the teacher still has not arrived. As you are about to leave, you notice a welcome message from the teacher and a list of instructions for the day written on the whiteboard.

If this were your experience in class, would you continue attending this class? Why or why not?

The scene described here may seem so unlikely that it is hard to imagine it happening in the real world. However, online learners can feel this way if there is not a strong online teacher presence. Strong teacher presence simply means developing positive relationships with learners and being “anxiously engaged” (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28) in the online learning experience. Effective online teachers seek to be present in both online classes (such as Canvas) and remote gatherings (such as Zoom).

Opportunities

• Online learning provides multiple ways for a teacher to be visible to learners, such as assignment feedback, class announcements, discussion boards, inbox messages, and remote gatherings.

• With so many opportunities for teacher visibility, learners can feel that teachers are very interested in their success. Being so visible can help the learner feel loved and supported.

Challenges

• Teachers can struggle to be present in online classes because of limited time.

• It can feel overwhelming for teachers to keep track of where and when to be present in online classes.

• Learners are used to in-person interactions with their teachers. Online interactions can be a hard adjustment for some.

Online Learning from the Learner’s Perspective

Learners in online classes at times might feel isolated, disconnected, or unmotivated for several reasons:

• Limited in-person interactions

• Distracting home environments

• Technical problems

• Unfamiliarity with online learning

You can help your online learners overcome these challenges by consistently being present in your online courses and ministering to your learners one by one (see 3 Nephi 11:12–15; 17:21).

Discuss with Your Supervisor

Ponder the following questions and how they might apply to your teaching. Prepare to discuss them with your local Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) supervisor.

• What are the most important places for me to be present in my online class?

• How do I measure good online presence in my class?