In last week’s blog post, we discussed the use of online discussion forums as an active learning strategy. We reviewed a three-part blog series that focused on creating, facilitating, and grading online course discussions. The second post in that series dealt with facilitating online discussions. A question that many online instructors grapple with in terms of facilitating is…how much is too much when determining the instructor’s level of participation needed to effectively and efficiently manage online course discussions? Isn’t the goal of discussions to engage your students, encourage critical thinking, and motivate them to interact with one another? Does a high level of instructor interaction distract from this goal?

Tammy Stuart Perry and Samantha Streamer Veneruso address this question and others in an article written for Faculty Focus (Balancing Act: Managing Instructor Presence and Workload When Creating an Interactive Community of Learners). In this article, they discuss striking the right balance of instructor presence within the online course environment that will ultimately lead to higher levels of student interaction and engagement. In particular, they discuss shifting away from the “teacher centered” mindset to a “teacher as a facilitator” mindset.

What strategies are you using to balance instructor presence in your online or hybrid course activities?