Humanizing Your Online Course

Humanizing your course means taking intentional steps to create a human connection with and between learners in your course. Contrast this to learners interacting only with content and the computer interface, without a sense that there is a thoughtful, caring teacher behind what they see in Moodle or elsewhere.

Humanizing any course is important, but needs a bit more attention in an online, particularly asynchronous, environment for several reasons:

• Online asynchronous communication with learners is often completely text-based, and can suffer from lack the facial expression, tone of voice and body language that convey care and attention.
• It’s easy for instructors to set a course in motion and check out for a time, letting the hard work they put into design carry their course for a while.
• It’s difficult for instructors to get to know their online students, so feeling a part of community is hard for everyone.
• Online courses are quite popular with students who are non-traditional, and non-traditional students often have outside pressures and schedules and may not have as much time to cultivate relationships by coming to in-person office hours, for example.

In this article, you’ll find some tips about high-impact practices that you can easily incorporate into your courses that will build a relationship of trust, emphasize your presence in the courses, build your awareness of your students and respond with empathy.

Why “humanize” your course?

Emotional engagement is key to students learning. If a student feels uncared-for, unsupported, isolated, neglected or in any way negative or apathetic about coming to class or about their relationship with you, those feelings will present a barrier to their cognitive engagement and their learning. Consider the following from the literature:

Principles of a humanized course

In her “Humanzing Infographic” pictured below at left, Michelle Pacansky-Brock identifies four interwoven principles of a humanized online course, represented by a graphic of a tapestry:

The power of authenticity

Being authentic is what Garrison and Anderson (2003) were talking about when they described “social presence.”

Social presence is defined as the ability of participants in a community to project themselves, socially and emotionally, as real people through a medium of communication.

Garrison and Anderson, 2003

Authenticity can be achieved through mistakes like spilled coffee, but also intentionally through “selective vulnerability” (Hammond, 2014). Essentially, find ways to selectively share things about yourself outside of academia, letting students see some things about you, and not fear that doing so might shake the image that you have it all together. Students need to see that successful people have everyday problems as well as interests and lives outside of their work. It’s important that they have role models who have outside lives and face challenges, but still succeed.

Being selectively vulnerable – sharing parts of yourself that show your human-ness without oversharing – sends several messages to students:

• “I won’t judge you if you don’t understand something or if you ask for help.”
• “I don’t expect you to do everything right the first (or second!) time, know everything, or never make a mistake.
• “Looking perfect is not valued in this classroom.”
• “You can struggle and still be successful. I have.”
• “I will listen to your thoughts with respect.”
• “You can have a life outside of school…it is healthy to do so!”

Want to give it a try? Consider sharing your academic and career journey with your students. Or share something as simple as your music interests, which can open doors for personal connection, as described by Dr. Marion Martin from the NC State Department of Chemistry.

High Opportunity Zone Humanizing Practices

Estrada et al (2018) identify as “high opportunity zone” – the week prior to the start of instruction, and the first week or two of classes. This timeframe is when you have a lot of power to set the tone for your course. Thus, there are many things you can during this time to start building trust, showing awareness, establishing your presence, and demonstrating empathy.

Send a welcome letter

Send a welcome letter to students before the first day of class. It can ease students’ minds as they start the semester when they hear from their instructors early on. In the welcome letter you might describe how your course is going to run and more information that can help students know what to expect. You can let them know how to access the course, what to do to get started, and when. NC State has a Welcome Letter Template available for anyone to us.

Send a “get-to-know-you” survey

In a get-to-know-you survey, you can ask questions that allow you to learn something about your students and also show your commitment to supporting them and helping them be successful. You might ask things like

• Name preferences and pronunciation tips
• I may leave feedback in video format for you. Does that work for you?
• Will you mainly use your phone, a laptop/computer, or something else to access Moodle?
• In one word, how are you feeling about this class?
• What is the one thing that is most likely to interfere with your success in this class?
• What are your aspirations in life?
• What can I do to support you?
• Is there anything else you would like to share at this point or anything you’d like to ask me?

A Google Form is a great tool to use for a Get To Know You Survey. You can see a sample student info form on Pacansky-Brock’s website.

Share a warm self-introduction

How you introduce yourself to your students goes a long way to setting the tone as well, and of course happens early on.

Example 1: Introduction Forum

If you create an introduction forum for the course for all class members to introduce yourself, you can also participate in that, modeling the authenticity and selective vulnerability you might hope to see in your students. Of course, students should never be expected to share more than they might be comfortable with, and some may prefer to keep everything apart from their participation in your course private. Still, even those students will likely appreciate your openness, and it will make them more likely to reach out to you if they need support.

Example 2: Course Welcome Video

Offer life-flex options

This last practice that falls within the high opportunity zone comes when you start thinking about your course policies, and is something that is communicated in your syllabus: offering life-flex options.

Consider this language from NC State faculty member Dr. Donna Petherbridge, which lets her students know about their “life-flex options” in her syllabus:

• “If you need up to a week later than scheduled to do a given individual assignment in any given week through April 26, you will not lose points. For the end of class activities; the paper and presentation, I do need those between May 7 (paper) and May 10 (presentation) so I can grade them by the end of the course!
• Quizzes have flexibility built into the due dates; it is strongly suggested that you finish the quizzes during the week they are due, in order to keep a steady pace in the course work, however, you’ll be able to take each quiz up to a week later if you need the flexibility in your schedule.
• Teamwork elements do need us to stay on a schedule in order to work together. So pay special attention to the group work!
• In all cases where you are going to LifeFlex individual activity due dates, do give me a heads up if so I’ll know you are taking a bit more time on something than is on the schedule.  I want to help you succeed in this course while navigating any personal challenges you face during the semester.”

More Humanizing Practices

Use informal video or audio to communicate

Letting students see your face and/or hear your voice in your more communications with them is a wonderful and relatively easy way to humanize your class. In fact, these tools can be humanizing workhorses! They increase your social presence and thus build trust and allow you to communicate an awareness of an empathy for the student experience. Michelle Pacansky-Brock writes, “Brief videos are the most underutilized humanizing element in online courses. Have a smartphone? That’s all you need to get started.  I don’t believe videos need to be perfect. Instead, they need to be meaningful and make relevant connections for learners. Video is also an exceptional medium for easing anxieties, building trust, and supporting your students’ learner variability.” View Pacansky-Brock’s page on Brief, Imperfect Videos for examples like the two below, and for tips.

Dr. Christine Cranford, an former English instructor at NC State, found great success in including an audio version of some assignment instructions. She found that her students were very appreciative and seemed to understand the assignment better when they heard her, rather than just reading sterile text on the screen. She was able to inject emphasis and enthusiasm into her instructions, and simply communicate more fully what she was expecting. Surely hearing her voice helped further humanize her course as well.

Invite student voices

Welcoming the student voice is another way to build their trust…but also to show that you trust them. It gives them a sense of belonging and shared responsibility for the class, which helps tremendously with emotional engagement. You will also find some ideas for inviting student voices in the Teaching Resources Article “Real Time Assessments and Check-ins,” particularly in the sections about asking students “What do you think?”

Tool: Yellowdig

Yellowdig is a discussion platform available at NC State that is all about community-building in a classroom. Students interact through a format that has a very familiar social media feel. The discussions are around the course topics…but they aren’t dictated by prompts – students bring in whatever they want to discuss about the topic. Many instructors include topics that are not directly related to course content, like study tips or mental health or pets. By giving students a space where they can be themselves and interact in a way that is familiar to them, you can make your course much friendlier. Learn more at the Teaching Resources Article, “Get Your Students Talking with Yellowdig.”

Tool: Moodle Feedback activity

The Feedback activity is a survey tool in Moodle you can use to ask students what they think about something (perhaps anonymously) and then get an analysis of their responses. You can allow them to see course analysis too, after they have responded, so they can see what their peers answered. This is not a graded activity in Moodle, but it’s a great way to let students know you value what they think and to show them they are not alone in the course. When using this any tool, if you ask students what they think, it’s important to respond so they know you’re listening to their answers. You might bring up the Feedback responses in a weekly announcement, or use them to help tailor your instruction.

One particular use of the Feedback activity is as a Mid-Semester Check-In. In this case, you might choose to use open-ended questions. Asking students questions like, “What’s helping your learning in this class?,” “What is hindering your learning in this class?”, “What could I change to help you learn?” or “What could YOU do to improve your learning?” prompts them to reflect at a mid-way point in the semester and also allows you to be able to adjust, if you can, to what they answer. Either way, it’s again very important that you take some time to discuss the results of the survey with your students. You can find out more at the Teaching Resources article “Mid-Semester Check-ins” and learn more about the Feedback activity in general at Moodle’s Feedback activity help documentation.

Tool: Moodle Hot Question

The Hot Question activity in Moodle is another way to solicit student voices and be responsive to their needs. Students are invited to submit or upvote questions for a guest speaker, prior to an exam review, during a presentation, and more. You can use the questions and their popularity ranking to help guide further instruction.

Check in with your students

By taking weekly or bi-weekly temperature checks through Zoom polling, Google Forms or another means to learn about your students’ general stress levels, comfort with material and general well-being. For instance, ask, “How was your weekend / Spring Break?”. You will also find some ideas for inviting student voices in the Teaching Resources Article “Real Time Assessments and Check-ins,” particularly in the sections about asking students “How are you?” See the Faculty Focus article “Put Yourself in Their Shoes: How to Check in with Students in an Online Learning Environment” and the Faculty Forum post “Checking in with our students” to learn more.

Decide ahead of time how you will respond to them with empathy. For example, you might

• Refer them to appropriate campus resources
• Adjust some expectations / due dates
• Take time to discuss a source of stress and stress management
• Offer an extra review session for an upcoming exam
• Extend a deadline
• Invite them to office hours

References and Resources

• Anderson, J. (August 31, 2021). Out of Crisis, Compassion: Using Instructional Technologies to Alleviate Student Stress. Educause Review.
• Del Pinal, J. (August 22, 2022). Re-engage with your students by being more authentic and showing your humanity! Faculty Forum, NC State University.
• Estrada, M., Eroy-Reveles, A., & Matsui, J. (2018). The influence of affirming kindness and community on broadening participation in STEM career pathways. Social issues and policy review, 12(1), 258–297.
• Fanshawe, M., Burke, K., Tualaulelei, E. and Cameron, C. (August 3, 2020). Creating Emotional Engagement in Online Learning. Educause Review.
• Holloman, J. (April 12, 2021). Setting the tone [with music]. Faculty Forum, NC State University
• Jaggars, S. S. & Xu, D. (2016). How do online course design features influence student performance? Computers & Education, (95), 270-284.
• Keeley, R.G. and Peterson-Ahmad, M.B. (November 6, 2020). Put Yourself in Their Shoes: How to Check in with Students in an Online Learning Environment. Faculty Focus.
• Pacansky-Brock, M., Smedshammer, M., & Vincent-Layton, K. (2020). Humanizing Online Teaching to Equitize Higher Education. Current Issues in Education, 21(2).
• Reyes-Fournier, E., Cumella, E.J., March, M., Pedetersen, J. and Blackman, G. (2020). “Development and Validation of the Purdue Global Online Teaching Effectiveness Scale,” Online Learning 24(2): 111–127.
• Scalzi Wherley, M. and Sutterlin, J. (March 9, 2022). Activate a Relationship-rich Culture with Three Simple Practices. Faculty Focus.
• Wong, C.O. (October 14, 2020). Building Relationships: How to Connect from a Distance. Faculty Focus.