Conference Program > Pre-Conference Workshops > Rena Palloff, Ph.D. & Keith Pratt, Ph.D.

"ESTABLISHING PRESENCE IN ONLINE COURSES"
October 6, 2008

Session Description: Presence online can be defined as the way in which participants present themselves as real people. In a face-to-face situation, we are able to convey in a multitude of ways who we are as people. How does one do that online? How do we help the other participants get to know us; likewise, how do we get to know them so that we have a sense of the group with which we are communicating?

Online, there is greater possibility for a sense of loss among learners – loss of contact, loss of connection, and a resultant sense of isolation. Consequently, attention should be paid to the intentional development of presence. Recent research regarding online teaching and learning is pointing to the critical component of faculty presence in an online course and its relationship to successful course outcomes and learner satisfaction. The development of a sense of presence increases participation in the online course, increases learner satisfaction, and increases the likelihood that learners will feel a sense of accomplishment and a sense that they have learned. How to establish and maintain faculty presence as well as promoting the development of presence among learners will be the focus of this session.

Techniques for establishing presence will be presented and explored. By the conclusion of this pre-conference workshop, participants will have written an introductory letter to their students and created an ice-breaker activity designed to begin the process of establishing presence. At the conclusion of this session, participants should have a better idea of what is meant by presence, its importance in online teaching, and should leave with at least one or two good ideas for establishing presence in their online courses. (Choose the special Pre-Conference option when you register for OTL and participate in this and two other workshops.)

RENA PALLOFF, Ph.D. and KEITH PRATT, Ph.D.

About the Facilitators: Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt are the managing partners of Crossroads Consulting Group.  Rena and Keith are also program directors and faculty in the Teaching in the Virtual Classroom program at Fielding Graduate University.  In addition, Dr. Palloff teaches in the Organizational Management and Development Program at Fielding, the School of Human Services at Capella University, is a mentor at Northcentral University in the School of Psychology, and facilitates professional development courses for John F. Kennedy University and the National Association of Social Workers.  In addition to his work with Fielding, Dr. Pratt is the lead faculty mentor for professional development at Northcentral University and teaches at Wayland Baptist University and Baker University.  They are the authors of the 1999 Frandson Award winning book Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom (Jossey-Bass, 1999), Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom (Jossey-Bass, 2001), The Virtual Student (Jossey-Bass, 2003), Collaborating Online:  Learning Together in Community (Jossey-Bass, 2005), and Assessing the Online Learner (Jossey-Bass, 2008). The second edition of Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace, now titled, Building Online Learning Communities was released in July 2007.  The books are comprehensive guides to the development of an online environment that helps promote successful learning outcomes while fostering collaboration and building a sense of community among the learners.  Drs. Palloff and Pratt have been presenting this work across the United States and internationally since 1994 as well as consulting to academic institutions regarding the development of effective distance learning programs.

Here are a few comments from participants in online events produced by LearningTimes:

"My brain is happy!"
"In the last few days online I met more people and gained more practical knowledge than at any face-to-face event I have attended in the last few years. And at a fraction of the cost."

"Astounding!"
"This was not your typical 'conference by bulletpoint'. The presenters facilitated amazing discussions full of resources I started to use on the spot."

"Who needs the buffet?"
"I didn't need a lunch buffet to make new professional contacts. The creative networking activities made the whole experience come alive. And I have new project collaborators to show for it."