1. BUILDING RAPPORT ONLINE

2. Christie DeCarolis, MSIT
Instructional designer
Adjunct instructor Rutgers University–Camden
@cmdecarolis

3. What will I talk about?
Why it’s important to build rapport in your online courses
Research around rapport-building online & types of rapport-building that improves student success
What activities I use to build rapport

4. What is rapport?
Defined as “harmonious interactions between faculty and students.” A relationship that is high-rapport is one that has communication, where ideas can be exchanged. (Glazier)
Rapport in general leads to higher student engagement, leading students to greater success. (Kim & Thayne, 2015) Studies have shown that when the student feels they have a positive relationship with the professor, they are more likely to succeed. (Micari & Pazos)

5. Why is rapport important in online classes?

6. Rapport is essential to student success online.
Rapport in face-to-face vs. online courses
Connection to student success
Rapport often occurs naturally in face-to-face courses due to the nature of the interaction. However, the nature of an online course strips away the opportunity for rapport to naturally occur. The online environment is inherently an isolating one. The professor and the students immediately become faceless, and there often no mutual time where communication occurs naturally (like a face-to-face meeting would provide). Purposeful effort has to be made for communication to occur at all.
However, this communication is important in ensuring student success. A student’s academic self-efficacy can often serve as predictor of persistence in online courses (Kim & Thayne). Studies have shown that an improved relationship with an instructor is linked to a student’s confidence and motivation in a course (Kim & Thayne, Micari & Pazos).
Student evals

7. “Students who had high perceived levels of interaction with the instructor also had high levels of satisfaction with the course and reported higher levels of learning than students who thought they had less interaction with the instructor.” (Swan, 2001)
Continued Swan quote: Students who reported low levels of interaction with their instructors also reported the lowest levels of satisfaction with their courses and the lowest levels of learning.

8. Reality check: teaching online will never be the same as teaching face-to-face.
Teaching online will never be the same as teaching face-to-face. You won’t know if the students are laughing at your jokes. You can’t see them nodding when they understand a concept or looking confused during a challenging topic. Spontaneous discussion is harder to do. But that doesn’t mean those things aren’t important and can’t have a different form online. This means building rapport takes purposeful work that is ongoing throughout the semester. Replaced with developing rapport with every single student instead of just the consistent students that always raise their hands.

9. What types of rapport-building helps students?
Student looks up to the professor
Student feels comfortable approaching the professor
Student feels the professor respects students
What aspects of rapport specifically contribute to student success? Micari & Pazos
So, what can we do to ensure that students feel this way in our online courses?

10. Three methods for building rapport
Humanize yourself
Provide extensive personalized feedback
Ensure personal contact with students
In order foster the types of rapport-building that bolster student success, three concrete methods can be taken. (Glazier)

11. Let your students know you are a real human.
Course welcome video
Send out occasional video announcements
Show up in your lecture videos
Offer optional synchronous meetings
Video
As I mentioned before, the online environment is naturally a bit isolating. Unless you make a point to let the students know who you are, they don’t have a clue with whom they are interacting with, which might make it uncomfortable for them to approach you, especially if they are struggling.
So how do I let the students know I am a real human in my course? I show my face in a few different instances.
Video announcements
My welcome video announcement and occasional video announcements throughout the course feature me talking to the camera. From the very beginning of the course, students can see and hear me speak. Here’s an example of a video that I sent out with the welcome announcement to my course.
Lecture video with talking head
Zoom for optional synchronous meetings
I don’t offer this on a regular basis- I usually offer them when there is a large assignment coming up to give students time to ask questions or review content. I’ve found that some students that wouldn’t normally reach out to ask me questions via show up to these sessions.

12. Get to know your students as real humans.
Survey students using tools like Google Forms
Use informal course assignments to learn about your students
Use VoiceThread or similar tools to listen to each other (literally)
Survey
One of the first things I do in my online course is have my students complete a student survey.
I use this to learn information about students that they might not include in their public course introduction. I find asking “Is there anything you’d like me to know about you?” gives students the freedom to share details about their lives that can inform you about how they might move through the course. Students let me know that they worked full time, or had children and might have difficulty meeting virtually. Getting these tidbits of information about their lives up front can help you make informed decisions and help drive your interactions with them throughout the semester.
If you are utilizing text discussions or blog posts in your course, try to have a few of the questions ask the students to connect the course material back to their own experiences or give them an opportunity to reflect. This is a seamless way to learn more about your students in the context of your course.
Finally, I find using tools that allow you to hear your students throughout the semester gives you the opportunity to get back some of the verbal cues that online courses are often missing. VoiceThread is a tool that allows students to comment on a piece of media using audio or video comments in addition to text. I use VoiceThread as an opportunity for students to apply what they have learned in each module. When their responses are verbal, I can often hear in their voice if they’re unsure- maybe they pause frequently. This is something I would miss if I were to use a plain text discussion board. It also gives the students an opportunity to connect with one another.
There are other tools you can use to get the same effect such as FlipGrid.

13. More examples Video Voice Thread Intro
Here are a few more examples of how I use VoiceThread and video announcements to both humanize myself and learn more about my students.
I use VoiceThread as an introductory activity in the course. I ask students the following instructions (“Intro link circle”): they should create a Powerpoint slide with a photo of them and specific information about themselves. They then are asked to narrate the slide with an audio or video comment. I do the same for this assignment in order to introduce myself and interact with the students.
In another example about midway through the course, my students completed a VoiceThread assignment. I gave this assignment before they had a big project due- in their project, they would be creating instructional infographics. As part of this VoiceThread assignment, they had to assess already-created infographics using the same rubric from which I’d be grading them on their project. After the VoiceThread was completed, I recorded an interaction within it that demonstrated a kind of “a-ha moment” and sent out a video announcement about the discussion.

14. Provide extensive, personalized feedback.
Feedback should be timely
Address the student by name
Offer balanced, constructive feedback
Willing to help the students if they need it! Feedback should be constructive and measurable (so it is something that students can actually change).
Generalized course feedback also lets them know you are paying attention to what they are doing.

15. Reach out to students personally.
Welcome/introduction
Regular s
Scheduled appointments & calls
Welcome - use the information from the course intro survey to personalize welcome s to students. This helps students feel that they can reach out to you.
Regular s should be sent out to students throughout the semester, especially if they are missing assignments or if their performance changes suddenly.
It’s also possible to require that students schedule an appointment or phone call with you at some point in the semester to check in. This is a great way to reach out to students who are diligently plodding through your work, but they might not reach out frequently.
In Rutgers–Camden’s Arts & Sciences, online courses are capped at 25 students for a reason. They are designed this way so that online courses can be high-touch and individualized for students.

16. Questions?

17. Sources
Glazier, R. A. (2016). Building Rapport to Improve Retention and Success in Online Classes. Journal Of Political Science Education, 12(4), 437. doi: /
Micari, M., & Pazos, P. (2012). Connecting to the Professor: Impact of the Student–Faculty Relationship in a Highly Challenging Course. College Teaching, 60(2), doi: /
Swan, K. (2001). Virtual Interaction: Design Factors Affecting Student Satisfaction and Perceived Learning in Asynchronous Online Courses. Distance Education, 22(2),