So many important messages are communicated nonverbally in face-to-face courses. There’s tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and the use of space—all with the potential to enhance the meaning of the verbal message. In online courses with the instructor not physically present, nonverbal communication is not an option—at least that’s what many instructors think. Authors of a recent study appearing in Communication Education take issue with that conclusion. They describe three kinds of nonverbal communication that occur in online courses, each with the potential to create the sense that the instructor is present in the course and interested in fostering student engagement.
Tone
“Just as instructors cannot not communicate; they cannot not set a tone” (2017, 39). For example, if the online course material is plain, mostly text with no or few visual features, that can set a “cold” tone and may be interpreted by students as a course with an instructor who doesn’t care much about students. A “warm” tone can be conveyed nonverbally in an online course through the use of features such as emoticons or manipulations of the text. Feedback regarding a great idea can be given extra meaning with a different font: Great idea, or with punctuation: Great idea!!! Or with caps: GREAT IDEA.
Visual imagery, including pictures, graphs, models, clipart, and video, appeals to the senses. It evokes emotions. If a course “looks” interesting, it may be perceived as being more interesting. Visual imagery can also be used in online courses to personalize the instructor, displaying information about hobbies, pets, or favorite places.
Color can also convey messages about the tone of the course. Colors other than beige or gray, according to these authors, are likely “energizing, attention getting, and engaging for online students” (2017, 40).
All of these aesthetic aspects of the course should fit together to make the course look well organized and coherent. If these elements are present and working in harmony they communicate “immediacy,” which refers to a collection of nonverbal behaviors that convey positive messages of liking and closeness. Those nonverbal behaviors also enhance motivation.
Chronemics
These are nonverbal messages communicated by time. In the online course, these messages are conveyed by how soon the instructor responds, how long the message is, and how frequently the instructor communicates. If instructors respond promptly, they are perceived as being accessible and available. If the response is considered slow, that’s associated with messages of dominance and a sense that the receiver is unimportant. Short messages can be seen as hurried. Based on their analysis of nonverbal messages in online courses, the authors recommend that instructors frequently participate in online discussions. They may be viewing student posts, but their presence cannot be seen unless they comment. However, the need to be seen in these online exchanges must be balanced against how easily instructors can appear to dominate online discussions.
Feedback
Prompt feedback is needed if students are to use it to improve subsequent assignments. Beyond that well-established fact are the positive nonverbal messages conveyed by prompt feedback. The quicker and more extensive the feedback, the more responsive the online instructor is thought to be.
In their study, these faculty researchers coded nonverbal behaviors like these in 51 different online courses. The courses ranged from first year to graduate level and represented 23 different disciplines. They were coded from week nine to week 14 of a 16-week semester. Students in these courses were also surveyed about the responsiveness and feedback of their instructors. Finally, an instrument was used to measure students’ perceptions of instructors’ engagement in the courses. Results showed that the instructors of these courses were choosing “warm” media and using it to create more social presence and student engagement in the courses. However, not all the means for enhancing nonverbal communication were being used to their full potential. For example, some graphic elements of the course, such as the use of color, emoticons, and personal images, were not being used all that often in the courses analyzed in this study. “Perhaps instructors lack time or consider these elements unimportant or unprofessional. Because instructors can create immediacy with little effort in the traditional classroom, they may not see the parallel need in online classrooms” (2017, 48).
Nonverbal communication is an option in online courses, but it’s different. However, even though the messages are conveyed through different forms, what’s being communicated nonverbally is strikingly similar to the nonverbal messages conveyed in face-to-face classes. Does this instructor care? Is he present in the course? Will she help me? Is he committed to my success? Does she come across as a real person?
Reference:
Dixson, M.D., M.R. Grenwell, C. Rogers-Stacy, T. Weister, and S. Lauer. 2017. Nonverbal immediacy behaviors and online student engagement: Bringing past instructional research into the present virtual classroom. Communication Education 66(1): 37–53.
