Describe the ways in which your introductory post should have enhanced social presence in a course that you teach,
Identify at least one improvement that you might make in light of what you know about social presence since completing your first post, and
Describe how your thinking about social presence has changed since your first post.
Understanding social interaction as a key constitutive element of learning brings urgency to the task of ‘humanizing’ one’s self as an instructor. Through humor, vulnerability, etc., students benefit from a process of meaning making that allows learning to become deeply rooted and dialogic – part of one’s identity.
Moving forward, I see the need to make additional efforts, especially when welcoming new students to a course (but also throughout), to cultivate a socially safe environment rooted in humanistic expressions of connection and communication.