As mentioned in A Day in the Life of an Online CS Instructor, the Online CS program values student experience, and student experience is strongly linked to Instructor Presence. Please read this book chapter (25 minute read); it presents an in-depth explanation of the concept of Presence in Online Education and its benefits. It also does a fantastic job of citing sources, so the reader can further their knowledge. The book Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning is strongly recommended reading for any instructors teaching in our program.

Key Takeaways

Regular, Substantive Instructor-Student Interaction

Utilize the tools associated with our program to engage regularly with students, and do so in such a way that the student knowledge base and motivation will benefit from the interaction.

Teams

Teams can be extremely valuable for synchronous communication sessions (via text or via its teleconference capability) and is strongly recommended as the method for office hours in the Program. A regular OSU presence on Teams, whether TA or Instructor, will encourage students to build community there.

Ed Discussions

Ed Discussions is used for asynchronous communication such as general course Q&A, course announcements, weekly office hour takeaways, and general course discussions. Engaging regularly on the Ed boards and guiding student discussions. When students generate their own answers to questions, check these for correctness and recommend (or endorse) good answers. Thank the students who are generating these correct answers, as they are aiding you in creating a welcoming classroom environment. If an answer is incomplete, note this so that no students are led astray, or complete the answer yourself.

Canvas

Canvas Grades can be used to identify struggling students and direct-message them with encouraging words. From the Canvas Gradebook, in the top row next to any assignment there is a “…” icon which can be selected to sort or curve grades. There is a Message students who option which is a fantastic tool for student engagement. Utilize this to remind students of assignment deadlines, applaud students on exemplary performance, reach out to students who are struggling to inquire about, or recommend, additional resources. It is a best practice to message students who did not submit an assignment to inquire after reasons for doing so. Not only does it remind the student you have an interest in their learning, it can be strong motivator.

Canvas New Analytics can be utilized first by adding it to your course Navigation by (in Canvas) Settings->Navigation->Then dragging it to the “Visible” portion. From New Analytics, it is possible to view fine-grained details for level of interaction by student, by section, and by resource. This tool also has significantly expanded Message Students Who capabilities, including View/Participate checks. For example, it is possible to Message students who [Didn’t view] (Project 2), and doing this several days before the due date may improve student performance, but it will remind them that the instructor is engaged in their learning. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem possible to schedule these timely messages.

Timeliness

As a rule in our Program, students should receive feedback on submitted assignments within three days of the due date. For larger projects and depending on the granularity of the grading rubric and TA performance, it may take a week to generate real substantive feedback, but anything longer than one week will seriously damage student engagement and experience, as well as their ability to learn from their mistakes.

Humanized Interaction

The current best practice for online education is to ensure your students know you are a human being. Some suggestions to aid in this include…

Posting an introduction with profession and personal factoids.
Allowing your literary voice to appear in communications (i.e. not being overly distant).
Changing from text-based weekly announcements to video announcements recorded in-the-world (e.g. gas station, library, McDonalds, gym, etc…).
Responding to student questions and struggles in a warm, encouraging manner.
Relating course concepts to current events.
Engaging with students in semi-/un-related discussions in Teams.