Social Presence: Names

Want to do just one thing that will almost immediately have an impact on the feeling of connection and community in your online class? Start using students' names.

In the academic study of online learning, we often talk about "social presence" as a key part of developing a community of learners. In a nutshell, social presence is about how "real" the other person feels to you when communicating online.* One simple way to connect with the other person and foster a stronger sense of social presence: use their name.

I know, I know...this might sound ridiculous. And I should caution that it is possible to over-do this. (I mean, you probably don't use their name every time you speak to a person, you know?) But in all seriousness, calling someone by name is a powerful action and we should not minimize the importance of this pedagogical move!

Think about how it feels in a face-to-face classroom when you are the student: being called by name indicates that you are seen and known. (This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how your name is spoken, I suppose!) :-) But the reality is that hearing your own name spoken is a signal that someone else has taken a notice in you, and this can easily convey a sense of connection and belonging that strengthens the community of learners.

Image (modified) by Allie via Unsplash

What does this look like in practice? Here are a few ways I use students names in discussion forums:

• When I'm interacting with students in discussion forums, if it's the first time I'm commenting in response to a person in a given thread I call on them by name. ("Jared, that's a wonderful story and it really illustrates the big idea very well...")
• If I am responding to a question a student raises in the discussion, I reply by name, usually with some word of affirmation. ("Thanks for asking that question, Dawn. Here's what I'm thinking...")
• Later in a discussion thread, if I'm referring back to an earlier comment, I try to always note who brought up an idea by naming that person specifically. ("I appreciated Kristina's comment about this earlier in the thread. Her suggestion reminded me...")

Beyond discussions, here are a couple other ways I try to be very intentional about using students' names:

• When I leave written feedback in response to students' work, I try to use their name at least once in the personalized comments I leave.
• When we use video-based comments (such as with Flipgrid, for example) I try to always respond to the student by name in any comments I leave.

These might seem like small things, but if you're not in the habit of doing this with your online students, I encourage you to give this a try, and see what impact this tiny teaching tweak might have on the classroom community.

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(This post is part of a series offering tips on distance teaching. You can read more about this project here: Distance Teaching Tips. You can also read all of the posts in this series here: Distance Teaching Tips Series.)

*There is plenty you could read to learn more about social presence; if you'd like a quick look, here's a chapter I co-wrote with a former-professor-turned-professional-colleague, Patrick Lowenthal: Social Presence and Communication Technologies: Tales of Trial and Error.