8 Ways to Build Rapport with Students in Online Classrooms
It takes more than a year to master a new environment. So, it makes sense that a year into the pandemic, instructors continue to experiment with how to best engage and build a positive rapport with students in the online classroom.
We know that fostering a sense of community increases student success in higher education. Building a great rapport is a clear and important part of this. Research shows that creating connection with your students will increase the likelihood that they’ll remember and prioritize your online course.
Building rapport with your students takes more than smiling, making eye contact, and promoting your office hours. Especially in the online environment, where you can’t see students’ reactions as easily, connecting with learners can seem like a completely different skill than bonding in the hallway or classroom.
However, you may be surprised at how many of the good teaching skills you already have can be adapted to the online environment and help build relationships with students. Consider the following eight ways to elevate your relationships with your students online.
1. Be Present
Just like you encourage students’ attendance and participation in class, learners expect the same from their instructors. Your presence and voice in the virtual classroom have a profound effect on student engagement. By appearing on video for each class, responding to questions in real-time, and staying on video during guest lecturers’ presentations, you’ll be showing your own commitment to your course. In an asynchronous environment, this might look like using a split screen during recorded lectures, so your video appears beside your presentation. Your engagement with your own class is not lost on your students. As they see you consistently energized and attentive in lectures, they’ll be more likely to begin to mirror that behaviour.
2. Be Positive
Simple but effective — a positive and friendly demeanour will help your students feel comfortable to open up, trust you, and build great associations with your digital classroom. Promote in-class comments and respond to them with encouragement. Similarly, use uplifting language when providing feedback on assignments. Corrections can’t be avoided, but they can be presented in a way that fosters students’ motivation to improve and to come to you with questions. You’ll actually drive students to put in more effort and participate in class more often.
3. Share Your Enthusiasm
Being enthusiastic is naturally contagious. Don’t hold back your passion! Your joy for your work will seep through the virtual walls and inspire your students to, if not find their own interest in the course, then at least more enjoyment of it. Think about how listening to a passionate speaker brings a smile to your face and try your best to do the same for your students.
4. Open Up
Often, instructors are seen as removed from the student experience. By sharing an anecdote about your family or an experience, you will change the way students think of you — as not just their instructor but as a person who has experiences relatable to their own.
If you prefer to refrain from sharing your own stories, you can open up in other ways. Add ‘for fun’ elements to your course by posting a YouTube video you found interesting or amusing. Or share a ‘what I’m reading’ update with a link or two to articles you enjoyed. You can then share a bit about why you found that content interesting and encourage students to comment or reach out with their own thoughts.
5. Send Personalized Emails
Sending personalized emails to your whole class may not be possible for those teaching large courses. But if you have a more manageable class list, send your students a personalized email or two. It’s particularly effective to check in at key moments during the semester to ask how the student is managing. This targeted outreach will encourage a lot of responses and likely help you gather insights that will improve your course, too.
You may also consider emailing students during breaks or holidays, not expecting the same response rate or course feedback of course. But this type of simple, kind communication will demonstrate that you care about your students. That feeling of support is extremely encouraging at a time when many aren’t able to gather with loved ones for holidays.
6. Comment Often
Providing feedback on assignments, discussion boards, or journal entries is an opportune moment to build rapport with your students, while keeping them engaged and on track. You can highlight what the student is doing well, what they should reconsider in the next assignment, what they should discuss further with you, and even your own thoughts on a topic. Comments are a great catalyst for increased class participation, discussion, and relationship building with your students.
7. Provide Video Updates
Consider all the information that you and your students read: in emails, assignments, announcements, newsfeeds. Posting weekly video updates will be a welcome relief from text for many students. Video also offers a more accessible communication style, and it gives your students another chance to see you. In videos, remind students of upcoming deadlines, share the week’s plan, and even offer your own opinion or perspective on a current event. By providing a visual check-in, a reminder, and a thought or two of your own, you’ll become more approachable to your students.
8. Be Consistent
Finally, it’s important to stress how effective and crucial consistency is. If you choose to employ certain communication tactics to help nurture rapport with your students, none will be effective if they’re inconsistently delivered. Build yourself a schedule of when and how you will engage your students and stick to it. Chances are, you’ll find your students warm quicker to your online classroom and take you up on your offer to talk through assignments and course topics more regularly.
