Relational Online Teaching: Connecting with Students at a Distance

Relational teaching pedagogies place the connection between instructor and student at the heart of student learning. These practices can include creating community, designing interactive learning experiences, and recognizing the student as a whole person. But in an online classroom, relational pedagogies must be woven into the course design, and the instructor must be intentional about their desire to connect with students. In this article, the authors will demonstrate how they applied the Five Good Things from Relational Cultural Theory to an asynchronous information literacy course in order to connect with students in an online learning environment.