Vintage gray, box public phone

There are a lot of ways to enhance teacher and student presence that go beyond announcements, emails, and discussions. Check out a few of these ideas:

Video

Consider the possibilities of using video as a learning activity tool. If you are teaching a communication or language course online, video is a dynamic way to assess student learning from a distance. Video enables you to evaluate pronunciation, presentation skills, body language and many other cues that are not communicated in text or as well through audio alone. Video can also be an invaluable way to replicate student presentations in any discipline. In the article The Value of Student Created Videos in the College Classroom, Greene & Crespi concluded that students appreciated the video experience; found it "relevant and entertaining," and felt that it helped to reinforce the course concepts.

Tips for Video Assessment

A simple webcam, smart phone or tablet can enable a student to record a video directly into a free YouTube account and the links can be shared in a discussion board, sent to you for posting on a webpage or collaboratively posted by students into a simple Google doc (create a new doc and adjust the settings to "anyone can view/edit" then just send the url to your students or post it in your CMS).

If students will be required to create a video, list webcam, smart phone or tablet with a camera in the "course materials" section of your syllabus to ensure students are informed and aware of this requirement upfront.

If you're concerned about student privacy on YouTube, be aware there is an "unlisted" video option which excludes videos from search results and enables viewing only by those who possess the direct link to the video (a great option for teaching and learning!).

Wikis

What is a wiki you ask? Well, it's pretty simple. A wiki is a website that can be edited by multiple users (defined by the customized settings). Some CMS have wiki tools that can be integrated into a course shell but there are also many free wiki providers that make using wikis for learning easy and free.

Visit the Common Craft site to learn more about Wikis.

Tips for using Wikis

Wikis can be terrific tools for enabling group projects!

Wikis can be used as alternatives for writing research papers. Perhaps you may to consider giving your students a choice to fulfill objectives through the writing of a paper or construction of a wiki?

You can easily create template pages in a wiki and require assigned students to complete specific areas throughout a course. Overtime, the empty template would develop into a collaboratively produced website.

Require students to type their name in parenthesis after making a contribution to facilitate your evaluation process if the tool you are using doesn't track this for you.

Popular Wiki Tools:

PBWorks EduHub
Google Docs

Blogs

Blogs are online journals that support text, images, videos and links to websites. A blog can be a dynamic and empowering tool to integrate into online learning, as they open the thoughts and ideas of each student to the entire class.

Blogs can also provide students with an opportunity to personalize their learning space, extending options for customizing the look and feel of the blog, adding supplemental images of friends or family, and even the option to play music!

Some course management systems include blogs as a basic tool but many do not and some are, unfortunately, difficult to use, provide few options for customization, or don't support the option for students to comment on the blogs (an important component of moving "reflections" into "discussions" and ensuring students are learning from each others' ideas).

Popular Blog Tools

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