I have been teaching asynchronous classes for four years. Students enroll in courses and then complete the course on their own timeline. There are a lot of benefits of asynchronous learning; however, one of the downsides is the lack of personal interaction and engagement. To be honest, sometimes I find asynchronous teaching to be very robotic and logistical. I don’t see my students daily or weekly; all communication is through email or Moodle Messaging. Michael Welsh encourages teachers to “build relationships” and “humanize online classes, “WOW! Did that ever hit me hard! Sadly, when I look over my courses, my students have very little opportunity to connect with one another or me.
In an ideal situation, students would actively participate in their online classes by confidently posting videos, participating in forums, and providing feedback to their peers. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The challenge of asynchronous learning lies in its inherent flexibility, where students progress at their own pace. As a result, forging connections becomes a difficult task. While synchronous interactions are limited or non-existent, building meaningful relationships and creating a supportive learning environment is still possible. In order to improve my community building in my asynchronous courses, I am using the guidelines outlined by Lindsay Harris in her article Building Community and Connection Between Students and Instructors in Asynchronous Course. and the strategies outlined in this week’s readings to vet my courses and make changes to improve community building.
- Getting to know each other
- Teacher Intro Video (Screencast-O-Matic)
- Student Get to Know You Survey
- Forum that students post on: grade, hobbies and interests, favorite classes, food etc.
- New idea: Students create introduction videos, complete a personality test (color test) and share results on our collaborative platform such as Discord or Padlet. (I love the idea of class collaboration platform! An opportunity for our class to share, post and ask questions!)
- Empathy
- Provide check-ins through Moodle Questionnaires
- Teacher Welcome Email sent out as soon as students are enrolled in course. I always require students to respond to my email so I know they have received it.
- Provide clear and concise videos walking students through my course.
- Use more empathy statements “I am here for you”, “If you have any difficulty, please reach out”
- New idea: Course empathy statement sheet
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- I am here for you.
- My goal is for you to learn and understand the material and see how it applies to your life.
- I am here to support you.
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- Communication
- Be very clear how students can contact me and when (email or message me in Moodle)
- Moodle Messaging allows me to select which students (or all) to send group messages to
- Monday Morning Memos go out each Monday through Moodle Announcements Forum
- Create Meili’s Motivational through Moodle Blocks
- New idea: Send out a Weekly Wrap-Up Video Message on Friday’s either through message or our Collaborative Platform
- Feedback
- Give praise when students demonstrate effort and strong understanding of the content
- When students struggle with an assessment, provide specific information on how they could do better in the future.
- Provide feedback in a timely manner.
- New idea: Provide individualized audio feedback through Moodle Poodll
