Teaching Online: How to Connect with Students

Name: Teaching Online: How to Connect with Students
Rating: 4.6 (6 reviews)

Help students succeed, build authentic connections, and make teaching and learning more rewarding!

Created byRebecca Glazier

Last updated 12/2024

English

What you'll learn

Why connection is critical to student learning
Practical strategies for making connections with students
Use mail merge to easily reach out to many students simultaneously
Create your own authentic connection style
Use technology to make connecting easier
Avoid burnout by using connection to spark the joy of teaching
Leave inspired and ready to start making connections!

Course content

6 sections • 16 lectures • 1h 13m total length

An Influx of Pandas4:45
Through an example of a simple way to connect with students, we will learn in this lecture how early efforts to build rapport in online classes can set students up for success.
Connecting through animal photos
Where are we now? Technology and the future of education3:27
In the world of post-pandemic online teaching, many are feeling both burned out and worried about students. In this lecture, we learn how success in this space will happen through connection.
Reflecting on Connection
Where can connection take us?2:01
Connecting makes teaching and learning more joyful. This lecture sets us up for a course that will move us from overwhelmed to inspired in our online teaching.

What a difference connection makes4:06
In this lecture, I share the results of a five-year teaching experiment I conducted in my own classes. Using connection, I was able to eliminate the retention gap between online and face-to-face students.
The Retention Gap
Results from the Minimum Rapport Experiment4:03
If connecting with students sounds like an overwhelming investment of time and resources, this is the lecture for you! In this lecture, I share the results of an experiment that demonstrates just how little connecting it takes to make a meaningful difference for students.
What we learn from the Best/Worst Study4:22
In this lecture, I share research that explicitly compares student views of online and face-to-face classes, revealing how important it is for online teachers to be responsive.

How to connect early with students7:21
It’s time to dive into the “how” of connection! In this lecture, I provide lots of examples for how to connect with students early in a class, including sending a pre-semester survey, writing a liquid syllabus, and having a non-content-related discussion board. For more information on what a liquid syllabus looks like, check out the links in the document provided as a downloadable resource.
Using connecting to get over mid-semester slumps6:15
Sometimes classes drag a bit as time goes on. This lecture is filled with ideas for engaging students and building connection, even right in the middle of class. Showing students that their input matters is a great way to build connection at any point.
Connecting with students through personal outreach8:50
One of the most effective ways to build connection is through personal outreach—sending emails, DMs, texts, etc. This lecture will tell you how to do it with technology so you don’t exhaust yourself! The downloadable resource is a treasure trove with detailed information on how to set up mail merge through Gmail, including links, sample emails, and examples of merged emails.
Write your own mergeable email

What does a flourishing life look like?3:51
In this lecture, we discuss the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which shows that relationships, including our work relationships, are at the heart of a flourishing life. For teachers, that means the quality of the relationships we have with our students.
Identifying rewarding interactions with students5:12
In this lecture, we start to understand more about how connection is mutually beneficial. When we really connect with our students, it brings us joy!
One Rewarding Interaction
Multiplying rewarding interactions5:30
Connecting is not about spending all day in discussion boards responding to every single post. It is about letting students know that you care about their success. We discuss quality and quantity of connection in this lecture and how we can have more rewarding interactions with students.
You can read more about how I have used non-content related quiz questions to build connection with students in online classes in an article I wrote, included as a downloadable resource.

Connection doesn’t look the same for everyone3:58
Connections must be authentic to work! Neither you nor your students will get the benefits if you are acting out the role of connecting that you don’t enjoy. This lecture will help you develop an authentic approach to connection.
Adapting connection techniques to your own style
You get to decide what to share4:38
Connection is a balancing act. In this lecture, we talk about how to connect with students in a way that humanizes while not oversharing.
Find your joy in connecting!3:06
In our final lecture, we talk about how connecting is part of our nature as humans. There is joy in it! Equipped with solid research, techniques, and skills through this course, you are ready start connecting. Now go have some fun!
Your connection gif

Requirements

Whether you have been teaching online for years or you are getting ready to move into the online teaching space, this course will give you the skills you need to connect with students and be successful!

Description

If you want to learn about teaching online, come to an online teaching expert! Dr. Rebecca Glazier has been teaching online since 2009, wrote the book “Connecting in the Online Classroom” (John Hopkins, 2021), and her research is regularly featured in Inside Higher Ed, the Chronical of Higher Education, and EdSurge. One of EdTech’s 30 Higher Ed Influencers to Follow in 2023, Rebecca’s teaching insights are engaging and useful.

This course will focus on connecting with students, an element of online teaching that is often neglected but that research shows is most likely to contribute to student success. This course is designed for educators who want to elevate the online teaching and learning experience—to help their students, to improve their own work life, and to send a signal to employers of their commitment to high-quality teaching.

But it is not just educators who will benefit from this course! So much of both work and learning takes place online these days. By connecting with your audience online, teachers, managers, team leaders, and even student presenters can all learn how to be more successful.

What You’ll Learn in this Course:

Why connection is critical to learning
Practical strategies for making connections
How to create your own authentic connection style
How to use technology to make connecting easier
The magic of mail merge to personalize outreach
How to avoid burnout by using connection to spark the joy of teaching

Rebecca has taught professional development seminars to thousands of professionals across the United States and around the world. And she is not just a talking head! You will learn about connection as she teaches--modeling connection techniques throughout this online course.

These are just some comments from people who have attended Rebecca's seminars:

“The communication tools, methods, and style options shared in the training were not only incredibly useful but also easy to implement.”

“I hadn’t realized just how many places I could add communication that might reassure and engage students, things that carry the subtext ‘I care about your success.'”

“I loved all the ideas and examples you shared with us, especially because they are based on years of teaching experience and research. Every single idea shared in your presentation and the group discussions has been useful and doable.”

“I can’t wait to learn how to use the Mail Merge with Attachments add-on. It’s going to save me so much time and still enable me to send personalized feedback to students. Thank you so much for providing us with specific examples of mail merge emails.”

You will leave well-equipped to teach online classes, or to lead any kind of online meeting or collaboration. You will finish this course inspired and ready to start making connections!

Who this course is for:

Grad students wanting to signal their commitment to teaching
Those already teaching online who want a more fulfilling experience
Instructional designers who think online teaching is about more than technology
Managers and team leaders looking to make remote collaboration more engaging
Anyone looking to move into the online teaching space

Teaching Online: How to Connect with Students

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Why we are starting with pandas OR the importance of building connections early3 lectures • 10min

Believe the data! OR exploring academic research on online teaching3 lectures • 13min

Am I connecting? OR what this whole connection thing actually looks like3 lectures • 22min

Avoiding burnout OR finding joy in teaching through connection3 lectures • 15min

Don’t fake it! OR building authentic connections3 lectures • 12min

Bonus Lecture!1 lecture • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: