Establishing a presence and passion for teaching
Two interesting topics have come up in discussions so far this week:
-How to establish teacher presence?
-What it means to be a passionate teacher.
Establishing teacher presence in an online course is a difficult task. I understand the importance of being available to students and how the interaction between instructor and student is important in determining the success of a course for both. During the presentation for module 3, I became more aware of what students are looking for as far as interaction with instructors and what instructors need to do in order to create a greater sense of teacher presence. The presentation discussed both quantity and quality of interactions. Adding those elements that show students that we are mentioned in the presentation such as links to talk with professor and culminating activities are thinks I would like to add to my course to contribute to its success. I think establishing a presence was not something I really thought about in as great a detail as I am now. I sometimes forget how differently I have to think when creating an online course as oppose to the f2f class where it may be easier to establish that presence and availability to students.
Discussions in this module so far have caused me to reflect more on what it means to be a passionate teacher. Is teaching with a passion for the subject something that is a natural gift of the teacher. Is it something that is gained throughout the process of teaching as the teacher becomes more comfortable with what they are doing? My discussions and personal feeling reveals that passion already within you. It is something that shows more and more throughout instruction and as you become more comfortable as an instructor. I was happy to come across an article that discusses preparing k-12 teachers to teach online. The characteristics that describe effectiveness in online teaching are those that set the best and most effective classroom teachers…..these characters are a bit more difficult to achieve in the online environment. I imagine trying to accomplish this through a frequent, known presence and meaningful feedback. Overall the way you present yourself and your materials is what is going to spark the interest of students and show them that their success if most important to you. (4)
