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Online Learning: Enhancing the Student Experience Through Humanization Opportunities

Instructor ability to develop meaningful instructor-student relationships to promote a sense of connection and belonging in the online setting may increase student engagement.

Presented by:

Katie Bennett, College of Coastal Georgia

Jessica Morris, College of Coastal Georgia

Amy Sneed, College of Coastal Georgia

Abstract:

Online coursework has become a popular method of distance learning in higher education. Its flexibility and convenience have led to rapid growth in online enrollment, especially catering to a large population of non-traditional students balancing work and personal commitments. There are several key areas an instructor should focus on, such as preparing for presence, investing in training, setting students up for success, prioritizing communication, monitoring effectiveness, and welcoming feedback. To establish a strong teaching presence early on, instructors should send announcements, create instructional videos, and actively participate in discussions

Keywords:

Online Learning, Student Engagement, Humanization

Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe strategies to increase humanization in the online setting.
2. Analyze strategies from the session that may be used to increase humanization in the online setting.
3. Explain which strategy they will embed in their course(s).

Online Learning: Enhancing the Student Experience Through Humanization Opportunities

Hear it from the author:

Online Learning: Enhancing the Student Experience Through Humanization OpportunitiesArtist Name
00:00 / 01:24

Transcript:

Hi, everyone. And thank you so much for joining us at this poster presentation, Online Learning: Enhancing the Student Experience Through Humanization Opportunities by Doctors Bennett, Morris, and Sneed from the College of Coastal Georgia. This presentation engages you all in the opportunity for critical reflection of an online teacher preparation program and implications for the learner educator, teacher educator, the program as a whole, and the institution. As we know, online coursework has become a popular method of distance learning in higher education. Its flexibility and convenience have led to rapid growth in online enrollment, especially catering to a large population of nontraditional students, balancing work and personal commitments. There are several key areas an instructor should focus on, such as preparing for presence, investing in training, setting students up for success, prioritizing communication, monitoring effectiveness, and welcoming feedback. This will focus on what our institution did and highlight the strategies that worked based on student input and feedback we have received over the past four semesters.

References

Jaggars, S. & Xu, D. (2016). How do online course design features influence student performance? Computers & Education, (95), 270-284.



Lane, L. An Open, Online Class to Prepare Faculty to Teach Online. Journal of Educators Online, 10(1),. Retrieved April 1, 2025 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/114393/.



Xu, D., Liu, Y., Shea, Z., Vincent-Layton, K., White, J., & Pacansky-Brock, M. (2025). Humanizing college online instruction: The effects of professional development on faculty perceptions and instructional practices. The Internet and Higher Education, (65).

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