Podcasts and Distance Learning

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Crafting Social Presence

In their discussion of social presence in the community of inquiry, Garrison and Anderson (2003) suggest that the online teacher should project himself or herself “socially and emotionally as a ‘real’ person” (p. 28) with the goal being that the teacher’s full personality comes out. This begs the question, “What if the teacher’s full personality is somewhat lacking?” The answer is simple: Change it!

But let’s back up for a moment. The role of the teacher is complex. We expect the teacher to have knowledge about the subject being taught, to be skilled at communicating, and to be fair and effective in management of the class. Classroom teachers also serve as role models, especially in primary grades, where children often spend more time with their teachers than their parents.

Online education is also best served when teachers project more than mere competency. The best online teachers are engaging, supportive, and worthy of emulation by their learners, too. These traits help instill confidence and sharing among learners as they negotiate unfamiliar territory from a distance, and best serve the educational institution in delivering the quality experience promised to its customers.

So back to our dilemma. What if the online teacher’s true personality does not align well with this model? Is the teacher stuck with projecting a less-than-ideal personality online? Not at all! Country singer, Brad Paisley (2007), croons, “I’m so much cooler online.” Teachers can be cooler online as well, and we can identify specific attitudes and actions that will make them so.

The cool online teacher

Cool online teachers are open, accessible, and accepting. They are willing to share personal history, opinions, vulnerabilities, and even photographs. They paint a full picture of themselves as living, breathing people, complete with imperfections, thus encouraging students to do the same and reducing the effects of time/space distance.

Cool online teachers are stimulating, quick to encourage, suggest, question, correct, and expand. They have a sense of humor, even about themselves, which can be invaluable in managing the pace and tone of online learning.

Cool online teachers are also learners, and they project joy about sharing the journey with their students.

Every online teacher can craft this sort of ideal social presence. It may take a little play-acting at first to develop an online alter ego; but because online teachers typically communicate exclusively through text, without facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language to betray any incongruity, this is easily accomplished.

More importantly, the ruse becomes real. Living into the person you would like to be is a proven way of reinventing yourself. The online teacher who consistently acts the part of an engaged, open, and supportive learning guide will slowly but surely internalize those qualities and become all he or she pretends to be. It’s a quirk of the subconscious mind, where real change begins, that it can’t tell the difference between imagined and actual events.

In the end, the social presence of an online teacher can be crafted to best serve the needs of the community of inquiry. We may not all be cool in real life, but we can all be cool online teachers.

References
DuBois, C., Lovelace, K. & Paisley, B. (2007). Online. Nashville: Arista
Garrison, D. & Anderson, T. (2003). E-Learning in the 21st century: a framework for
research and practice. New York: Routledge.