Discussions

Your Name and Title: Dave Hallmon, Instructional Designer & Strategist

School or Organization Name: Webster University

Co-Presenter Name(s): none

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: St. Louis MO

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Online Teachers, Online Students, Instructional Designers, Administrators, those interested in eLearning, Flipping their classroom, those interested in MOOCs

Short Session Description (one line): This presentation will focus on strategies to build rapport with students and fostering student engagement by cultivating social presence in an eLearning experiences.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

Whether teaching online or face-to-face, successful teaching strategies are universal. Content expertise, rapport with students, timely responses to student questions, and organization are just a few of the important qualities of a successful teacher, regardless of teaching method or medium.

This presentation will focus on strategies to build rapport with students and fostering student engagement by cultivating social presence in an eLearning experiences. During the presentation, I will:

• discuss current social trends/events and explore whether these types of online interactions add value to eLearning experiences
• briefly review current literature on social presence
• discuss recommendations on how to humanize eLearning experiences by maximizing course tools available in most LMS

The topic of social presence will apply to both instructors flipping their classrooms or teaching solely online.  Throughout the presentation, I will demonstrate how I have used cultivated social learning in my own online classes, COAP 2000: Introduction to Web Programming, COAP 2120: Web Editors, and COAP 3150: Design Principles II. Some examples include instructor introductions, presenting assignments as learning opportunities, instructional scenarios, and creating small group discussions.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
My personal blog where these topics are discussed > coffeeandesign.wordpress.com

My personal Twitter feed where these topics are discussed > twitter.com/DaveHallmon