By Denise Seguin I started teaching an online course this fall and was determined to find a way to personally connect with the students I would never meet face to face. I spent some time looking for practical tips to help me connect with each student. Here’s what I learned and what I’ve tried. The program coordinator told me that she had received feedback in prior years from online students, and they said that they would get frustrated with the length of time it took for some teachers to respond to emails. She also said that many students completed their homework on the weekends when they had more time and found that some teachers did not respond to emails on the weekend. Armed with this feedback, I found out how to auto forward email in the college’s learning management system to my personal email account. Since my personal email account is also set up on my smartphone, I know immediately when a student had emailed me. This strategy has worked out very well. My phone alerts me when a student has emailed me and I can respond quickly. On the first day of class, I created the introduction thread in the discussion area of the course with a brief post about myself. I included details about what I liked to do for fun and relaxation as well as a brief description of my credentials. I encouraged each student to post a similar bio and to respond to their classmates’ posts in order to create a learning community. I made sure I replied to each student, commenting on something each one said either about their personal interests or background. In other words, I wanted to make sure my posts did not look like cookie-cutter welcome messages. My daughter shared with me a technique her online teacher used in which each person in the introduction thread was to post two truths and one lie about themselves. Then each person tried to guess which item was the lie. She said it was fun to read about each person and guess the truths versus the lie. I plan to try this out in my next course. Early in the term when the first homework was assigned, I set up a live chat on the weekend. Not many students showed up, but the few who did really appreciated the immediate answers to their questions. We also spent a few minutes chatting with each other about an event that was going on in the area that weekend. While the event had nothing to do with the course content, we had a few minutes to share tips with each other about going to the event. Throughout the term, I send quick notes to students who are doing well, congratulating them on their success. I also send notes to students who are struggling and I provide them with tips for how to access college resources. Schools have many resources that online students may not realize are available to them. For example, the college subsidizes peer tutoring and one-on-one assistance at the college’s learning center. A struggling student will appreciate the time taken to let them know about these resources. Lastly, I realized that many students were overwhelmed with five online courses where each course was set up in a slightly different manner and each instructor had a different way of running the course. I had a few students who missed getting a few assignments submitted early on because they were not yet organized with a plan for course work. I touched base with these students and helped them with a few ideas to plan the work for the week. I even telephoned one student who was struggling to get set up on a third-party assignment system. She was very grateful for that personal contact. A few other tips that help to personalize the online learning experience:

• Put your photograph in your personal profile so students can see what you look like. I found after I put my photograph in my profile, many other students followed suit. I always look at the student’s profile picture before I contact them. In some cases, their picture tells you something about them. For example, one student’s profile picture showed her holding a cat, so I asked her what her cat’s name was and how long she had the cat.
• If you need to give instructions on setting up a feature, create a video with you in the corner or at the side of the frame. It will feel more like a personal lecture with each student.
• Create your weekly announcements using video. These are easy to do with your webcam and let students see you smile and look engaged. It will help them do the same!

I hope you find these tips helpful so that you and your online students can forge stronger, more productive connections.