As I was checking the D2L courses in my program group getting ready to make my Spring 2 dupe list, I noticed that a few of my faculty didn’t put a picture in their Instructor Widget.
This got me thinking “Why?” Online instructors have reported that they feel they “know” their students better through online learning than in a “regular” class. We make a connection with every student through discussions, email and comments on assignments. If you’ve taught in a f2f classroom, there are always quiet students who never contribute to a class discussion. We never seem to get to know this student as a person. But through our discussions, our online students seem to reveal more about themselves than they would in class, maybe too much in some cases. Is the opposite true? Do our online students feel they know us?
One simple way to add a little human touch is to post a picture of yourself. Why wouldn’t we? I can think of a couple excuses, but no good reason why not.
- Excuse 1:” I don’t have a picture of myself. I’m always the picture taker.” Just about everyone has a camera on their cell phone. Turn that cell phone around and snap yourself.
- Excuse 2: “I don’t have a good picture of myself.” Heard of PhotoShop or some of the other photo editing programs?
- Excuse 3: “I don’t know how.” This is where your favorite D2L mentor comes in handy. Ask them for tech assistance.
The purpose of our job as instructors is to make a connection with our students and facilitate and encourage knowledge acquisition and development. Reminds me of that great Bruce Springsteen song, “Human Touch”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cNRQo1m3AI just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch
Just a little of that human touch
Add a little human touch to your online class!
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