In my previous post I discussed how distance learning has changed over the past 25 years. Gone are the days of yes-no (multiple-choice) type assignment questions aimed at assessing basic understanding. Today’s students are expected to write their answers in their own words, and use critical thinking to evaluate information and apply concepts. In addition to this, students are now expected to engage with one another through course-based discussion boards – something that was impossible prior to the advent of online social networking.

Over this same time frame the concept of teaching presence in online and distance education was first proposed (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) and slowly became more widely implemented as it was being further developed. It is therefore not surprising that teaching presence was next to non-existent in distance learning a quarter century ago, while today it is an important benchmark of online education.

In my own courses, teaching presence can be seen in the way I design my courses, in my facilitation of synchronous and asynchronous discussions, and through my direction of students’ work. For example, that I build a framework for them to organize their learning, and provide them with relevant videos of course material, demonstrate much stronger teaching presence then the courses I had as a student. Not to mention helping students stay on track in their self-paced course, which is a challenge for some students. Additionally, including class discussions, and providing written feedback that reflect where students need to improve and what I am looking for, are other ways that I demonstrate teaching presence in my courses.

In short, there are several ways that teaching presence can be seen in my own online courses that wasn’t there when I was a student, or has substantially changed since then. However, as with everyone out there, there’s always room for improvement. What would make my own teaching presence more effective would be to increase the frequency of my own comments on content-based discussion boards – something I find particularly challenging in a self-paced course where there isn’t a defined “end” to the discussion.

References

Garrison, D., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6