Instruction Best Practices

Recent Definitions

Adapted from materials provided by University of Houston

The U.S. Department of Education has issued Final Rules on Distance Education and Innovation which go into effect on July 1, 2021. Under the new regulations, the U.S. Department of Education requires that all online courses and programs for which students may use federal financial aid include regular and substantive interaction between students and their instructors. This ruling applies to both synchronous and asynchronous courses, with the primary focus being asynchronous courses.

The Department of Education defines “substantive interaction” as “engaging students in teaching, learning and assessment, that is consistent with the course content under discussion, and includes at least two of the following every week:

Attending a synchronous class, lecture, recitation, or field or laboratory activity, physically or online, where there is an opportunity for interaction between the instructor and students;
Submitting an academic assignment;
Taking an assessment or an exam;
Participating in an interactive tutorial, webinar, or other interactive computer-assisted instruction;
Participating in a study group, group project, or an online discussion that is assigned by the institution;
Interacting with an instructor about academic matters; and
Required discussion forum activity.

Most faculty will realize that you already do these things! The key is including your plans for RSI in your syllabus and then – at minimum – following those plans (you can always add more interaction).

And, as always, please contact the CTOL staff if you need help or advice.

Four Elements of Regular and Substantive Interaction

This introduction is adapted from materials provided by Ohio State University.

Over time and through the gathering of various interpretations, "regular and substantive interaction" is defined by four elements:

Interaction initiated by instructor: While in distance courses students have a heightened responsibility to take ownership of their learning, the faculty presence, guidance, and initiation of contact is critical. In distance courses, the flow, sequence, and deadlines of the course must be directed by the instructor and the timing of the course set through use of learning activities, online discussion, lectures, etc. In comparison, in correspondence courses students submit work when they finish it and initiate questions when they have them with little or no guidance from the instructor.
Initiation of interaction must be scheduled, regular, and frequent: This element is probably one of the least defined of the bunch. Interaction must be scheduled and included in the syllabus; this doesn’t mean every interaction has to be planned ahead, but that students will know approximately what to expect and how often to expect it. Interaction should happen on a reliable schedule with frequency. Many institutions suggest a minimum of a weekly interaction as a baseline.
Interaction must be meaningful or of an academic nature: Essentially, the interaction should lead toward increased learning and might consist of things like:
- Regularly scheduled synchronous activities.
- Facilitating a study group or online discussion forum.
- Facilitating faculty-guided independent study.
- Announcements, email, or social media check-ins initiated by the instructor about aspects of the course, additional guidance, etc.
Interaction must be initiated by academic personnel who meet accrediting body standards: Essentially, interaction should be initiated by someone who is qualified to do so as it relates to the subject matter. At Ohio State, this would fall to qualified faculty or those who meet similar requirements of faculty, lecturers, instructors, etc. For competency-based programs this has been defined by the HLC as "appropriate academic credentials and experience in the applicable knowledge domain."

The Plain and Simple

Distance Education can only be successful with a strong instructor presence and regular constructive interactions with qualified faculty. The myth that online learning is a solitary experience is from an earlier day when we knew much less about how people learn and succeed online. Now we know more, and the regulatory bodies are driving higher quality interactions and experiences.

Knowing this, here's what you can do as a faculty member:

Design your course from the ground up to integrate strategic points for faculty interaction, perhaps on a weekly basis.
Develop a communication plan to help guide and manage your interactions.
Set up regular announcements to go out automatically at strategic points.
Identify students struggling to reach mastery through observation of discussion activity, assessment completion, or even user activity and offer additional opportunities for interaction.

Short, Informal Videos

Consider creating a weekly video for the class where you give some quick information in an informal tone. This is separate from a lecture - think of it as the chat time at the beginning or end of class. Here are some ideas of things to share during your video:

Where are we in the quarter - what's coming up.
Events happening on campus.
Something interesting in the news related to your course.
A reminder about office hours.
A key point that someone brought up in a discussion, or a point of confusion you want to clarify.
A quick hello and good wishes for an upcoming test.
Reminders about campus resources.

A nice way to increase engagement in your video is to film it in an interesting location (not where you normally film your lectures). For example, a quick video filmed outside on your phone would be more visually interesting and engaging to students and could help you feel more approachable to them.

Personal Touches

In a physical classroom, your students have a lot of informal opportunities to learn about you. In an online classroom, there are fewer chances for chit-chat, so it can help to lower student anxiety by sharing some small things about yourself. Privacy is of course a concern, and you should never share more than you feel comfortable with. However, here are some ideas for personal details that you might consider sharing with students:

Pet photos or stories.
A piece of media you are currently enjoying or just finished.
Something related to a hobby.
Something you enjoy doing around Olympia.
A story about when you were in school.

You could share these touches in an "About me" page. It might also be helpful to put them in a couple of places throughout the course (such as in an announcement or as part of a discussion).

Presence in Discussions

Discussions are an easy avenue to making your presence and engagement in the course visible. We recommend having fewer discussions throughout a quarter. This is partially to make it more manageable for you to make meaningful contributions there as students post. Use your discussions replies to:

Ask questions.
Give encouragement.
Offer direction.
Connect ideas between different posts.
Build community by connecting students to other students - for example, suggest a student refer to a specific classmate's post.

Canvas discussion challenges:

Students post bad responses.
Their posts are too short or long.
They are shallow or just re-stating (or copying) course content.
Students don't post at all.
Students don't talk to each other, or when they do it feels scripted.

Common causes of discussion challenges:

Unclear instructions.
The prompts aren't engaging.
Unclear due dates.
Student shyness.
Motivation (cognitive budget, external demands).

General advice

Design with online in mind. Your online discussions will look different from your in-person discussions. That's okay. Start with the expectation that you won't replicate what you can do in person.

However, you can learn from in-person discussions. There are a lot of hidden components to an in-person discussion that we forget to replicate in online discussions. Some of the things that can help with engagement are:

Introductions: Think about when you sit down to have a discussion in class. You don't just dive into the content of your conversation. You warm-up a little first with small talk or introductions. Consider having students introduce themselves at the beginning of a conversation. You can have a basic introduction (or a fun question) that students use as their first reply or as part of their main post. By fostering this community, you make starting the discussion more approachable and give students something personal to connect about.
Questions: When you're in a live conversation, you ask each other questions to keep everyone involved. Consider requiring students to ask questions within their posts. By asking a question, a student gives the next poster something to grab onto. It feels more like a conversation.
Teacher engagement: In your in-person discussions, you probably walk around the classroom and check in with students as they work. Consider doing the same for your online discussions. Check discussions every day, and comment as needed. Comments can be affirmations that students are doing what they should, questions, or redirection. This will give discussions more weight, help keep students focused on the task, and provide an opportunity to guide and teach in smaller groups.
Quality over quantity: Running an effective Canvas discussion takes a lot of student and teacher energy. Consider having fewer discussions. They might span longer periods of time and might have a greater impact on students' grades. For quick knowledge checks, use a Canvas quiz, journal, or other non-interactive assignment. A discussion is a place for sharing and challenging each others' ideas, not necessarily for demonstrating basic understanding.
Allow the conversation to go where it wants to go: Allow (and encourage) students to let their conversation go in unexpected directions. If the conversation moves off the specific prompt, then that may be fine in some circumstances. Allow (and encourage) more natural conversation (like you would have in a physical classroom) by directing and modeling this kind of conversation as appropriate.

Discussion instructions

Like with your other assignments, the instructions and prompts you use have a large impact on whether the activity is successful.

TILT your discussions as you do your assignments.
Use UDL principles: Give students the choice of submitting a written post or an audio/video post. Allow students to choose which questions to respond to, or what topic to explore.

Creative prompts

Getting creative with your prompts can be a great way to foster conversation and participation. Below are some examples of creative prompts beyond a summary or response:

Ask students to create quiz questions, then use those questions for a quiz.
Examine a case study.
Provide a (non-student) example of poor work, or work with many mistakes for students to correct in the discussion.
In response to a given situation, discuss possible advice from different (assigned) perspectives.
Take an assigned stance and argue for a position given a topic.

Close the loop

Try reincorporating ideas that emerged in the discussion in other parts of the class. For example, highlight insights or common questions in a course announcement.

Increasing inclusion in the classroom is an ongoing and worthwhile process. By increasing inclusion in the online classroom, you invite students to bring their authentic selves into their work and enable them to take risks that will enhance their learning.

Below are some ideas for activities that help build inclusion as well as some things you might change to build student agency and representation in your online classroom.

Syllabus: Check your syllabus for inclusive language. It’s often your students’ first impression of you and the class. A welcoming, easy-to-understand syllabus is a great way to start building inclusion.
Class Expectations: Co-create (or share) expectations for online behavior and communication. Enforce expectations if issues arise.
Introductions: Add a get-to-know-you survey at the beginning of the quarter, and respond to it. Students also want to know about you! Share some information about yourself.
Check-Ins: Add regular check-ins where students can give you feedback about what they already know, what they need to know, and what supports they need.
Student Hours: Add announcements or course messages inviting students to student hours. Students may need multiple reminders that you are available to support them.
Student Services: Add a page or an announcement that includes information about student services. Include links to and reminders about student services throughout the course.
Course Materials: Review your course for materials from diverse speakers/writers. Are there any materials that can be updated, or any gaps in your materials?
Student Choice: Look for opportunities to promote student agency and choice. Are there any places where students can select their own resources? Choose their own way to demonstrate learning? Design their own activities?

Instruction Best Practices

Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)