DE Oracle @ UMUC

Enhancing the Atmosphere of Your Online Classroom -- Part I

Michael Sweeney

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: January-February 2002

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication

Introduction

Remember way back when, before online education, when most classes were taught face to face? Usually there were one or two professors that were favorites of the students. These teachers would dazzle the students not only with knowledge of the subject matter, but also with their wit and wisdom. Students would hang around after class to ask questions or just bask in the aura of a magnetic personality.

Does this sound like you? Yeah, me neither ;-)

Online education is challenging for both the student and the instructor. However, some characteristics of online education have the potential to enhance the learning experience. This article will focus on classroom atmosphere. A good atmosphere encourages students to communicate with the instructor and with each other. In addition, a good online atmosphere can help personalize what is inherently an impersonal environment. This article will present a few ideas and techniques that have worked for me. You are probably familiar with some of them. Some may be new to you. It is my sincere hope that you will find something useful here.

Don't reinvent the wheel. Use your resources.

The people at UMUC have devoted a tremendous amount of resources to assist those who would teach online. Use them. The hardware, the software and the technical support are top notch. What success I have had in teaching online is in no small amount due to the people who support my activities. If my department program director, my DE Coordinator, and my WebTycho trainer are representative of the help available to you here at UMUC, then you are blessed with tremendous resources.

Be yourself (whomever you want that to be). Your online persona.

IMHO (In my humble opinion), one's personality is an inherent part of teaching. If your online class does not reflect your personality, or at least someone's personality ;-), it will appear dull and lifeless.
You may start your face to face classes with a bit of humor. A joke, even a lame one, tends to loosen up the class a little bit and help students engage in the class. Why not do the same online? I try to keep my humor gentle and self-depreciating. I also try to be honest with my students. Here is an excerpt from my announcements:

"I'm looking forward to grading your mid-term exams. (That's a lie, of course. They tell us to say that in professor school. Don't know why. I'm actually looking forward to having finished grading your exams.)" Don't overdo humor. You may want to reserve humorous comments for the announcements section and the social section of the conferences.

How to be a great bartender - Using the environment to your advantage

How can you tell a great bartender? He or she remembers you! A good bartender remembers your name, what you drink, where you work and other details about your life. You can do the same online. You probably already have your students introduce themselves. Use that information to personalize your responses to student questions. I call my social conference area "Sweeney's Irish/Hungarian Coffee Bar and Pub." When introducing themselves I ask each student to list a favorite beverage in addition to normal biographical information. If a student does especially well on an assignment, I may invite the student over to the pub for a Guinness, an Espresso, or whatever. Can I remember my students' favorite beverages? Heck, no! But it only takes a few seconds to look up the information and make a small, but personal, connection.

Conclusion

I'll be continuing this article in a future issue, so stay tuned for: "How to avoid email Hell - keep it in the classroom" and "Lets give them something to talk about - Stimulating classroom conversation." I hope you found something useful here.