Welcome Learners to Your Course

Humanizing leverages learning science and culturally responsive teaching to create an inclusive, equitable online class climate for today's diverse students. When you teach online, it is easy to relate to your students simply as names on a screen. But your students are much more than that. They are capable, resilient humans who bring an array of perspectives and knowledge to your class. They also bring life experiences shaped by racism, poverty, and social marginalization.

In humanized online courses, positive instructor-student relationships are prioritized and serve "as the connective tissue between students, engagement, and rigor" (Pacansky-Brock et al., 2020, p. 2). In any learning modality, human connection is the antidote for the emotional disruption that prevents many students from performing to their full potential and in online courses, creating that connection is even more important (Jaggars & Xu, 2016).

Instructors should consider designing the following humanizing elements in online courses:

1. A Liquid Syllabus (Pacansky-Brock, 2021, 2017, 2014; Pacansky-Brock et al., 2023, 2021) is a humanizing element that ensures students start a course feeling supported by their instructor. It intentionally provides students with what they need to succeed in week one of a course, including a warm, friendly face. It should be emailed to students the week prior to the start of a course. Rather than a PDF or a page locked inside a learning management system, it is a public, accessible, mobile-friendly website that opens instantly and renders beautifully on a phone. Students are greeted with a brief, imperfect welcome video at the top; a learning pact that articulates what students can expect from their instructor and what will be expected of them; a list of week one due dates; and tips for success. If policies are included, they are written in welcoming, hopeful language.
2. A "Welcome" or "Start Here" or "Introduction" module within Canvas.  This section gives instructors the opportunity to introduce themselves and the course, and to meet the students—and for everyone to begin to get to know each other. This helps set the ‘tone’ of the course and facilitates trust. It demonstrates that you, the instructor, are present and available to support and facilitate students' learning (Chen et al., 2015b; Stylinski, 2020).  A welcome message also helps establish your persona and begin to connect with students, fostering a comfortable class atmosphere; it can even be sent to students prior to the course start. Students want to know (Chen et al., 2015b; Stylinski, 2020):
   • What you are like
   • What happens in this course (routines)
   • What makes this course great
   • What are assessments and feedback like
   • What is expected of them