Recap: Cultivating Social Presence
- III) How to Use Lightboard > b) Effective Lightboard Instruction > Recap: Cultivating Social Presence
Putting It All Together
When a learner feels a social partnership with an instructor, the learner will exert more effort to actively understand what the instructor is presenting. Since Lightboard videos replace or supplement some form of in-person or live learning experience, it is important to cultivate a social presence with the learners through your videos. As a review of the key behaviors highlighted on the last two pages, some ways you can achieve the right mix of social cues and instructor presence to facilitate learning include:
- Maintaining an unobstructed view of the learner (i.e., not covering your face with writing)
- Complementing written content like equations or diagrams with verbal explanation - present words as auditory narration vs. just text
- Keeping information concise, especially when using inputs in addition to writing on the board - it should be no more complex than necessary to communicate key concepts
- Using "you" and "I" rather than third-person speech and you can make direct comments about yourself or your own experiences
- Gesturing to signal where the learner should be paying attention
- Being aware of your vocal register - do you sound animated? Is there enough up-and-down pitch to avoid sounding monotone?
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