Transcript  (PDF)| Video length ~ 3 min.

Learning outcomes

This module will introduce virtual learning environments and the learner experience, along with course design considerations and practical strategies that will foster valuable and engaging virtual teaching and learning experiences that foster significant learning.

While virtual courses differ from in-person teaching, much of what you do naturally in the classroom that helps your learners connect with you, with each other, and with the content and skills you teach, can be achieved in virtual contexts. Humanizing learning in virtual learning contexts sometimes does require a little more intentionality, forethought, planning, and preparation to reduce the transactional distance between you and your learners. Michael G. Moore defines transactional distance this way

[Transactional distance is] a psychological and communication space to be crossed, a space of potential misunderstanding between the inputs of instructor and those of the learner.

( Moore, 1991)

All courses, no matter how they are delivered, involve some level of transactional distance, but virtual courses in particular can involve much more of this type of distance than their face-to-face counterparts. Transactional distance has almost nothing to do with how far apart people might be physically—but rather has to do with how distanced we feel psychologically.

Connection isn’t limited to in-person

The idea that authentic connection and engaging teaching and learning cannot occur in a virtual context is a persistent notion, however, this is certainly not necessarily the case. While some may have mixed experiences while teaching and learning virtually, challenges connecting in virtual learning contexts are not inherent to the medium of virtual communication or communication across great distances, time zones, or temporal lags. In fact, there are many notable cases across history and most of us have direct experiences of authentic connection across great physical distance and temporal lags. Dr. Rhonda Dubec provides a lovely reminder of this:

Through nothing but letters and over long time periods, people have established life-long relationships, romances, and deeply passionate things. So, it’s not the medium at all which is the principal challenge, it’s the engagement methodology. Because you look at Isaac Newton, Abelard and Heloise, and the collection of letters that go back to … Babylon and all these relationships …. There are life-long relationships between teacher and student, between friends, between colleagues, between lovers. These relationships were sustained, life-long, over continents, even though it could take a year to get a letter … [There are many examples of] scientists (e.g., Isaac Newton) who had intercontinental collaborations and invented incredible machines, innovations, new theories and everything with nothing but letter relationships.

(R. Dubec, personal communication, April 21, 2021)

Our hope is that you will come away from this unit equipped with several implementable strategies for designing virtual learning experiences that help to reduce that transactional distance and facilitate authentic connections between learners with instructor(s), learners with each other, and learners with the course content.

Sections in this module

You can jump to any of the sections in this module by clicking the links below or using the left-side navigation menu.

1.2 Virtual learning contexts and virtual learners

1.3 Setting the stage for significant and courageous learning

1.4 Learner–instructor connection: Designing courses with personality

1.5 Learner–content connection: Designing valuable learning experiences

1.6 Learner–learner connection: Designing authentic peer teaching and learning opportunities

Strategies in action examples

Reflect and apply activities

Going deeper resources