ABSTRACT
An often-heard concern about asynchronous online learning is the challenge of establishing presence and community when instructors and learners rarely see or hear each other. This chapter discusses the intentional design and implementation of preclass surveys to inform course design that supports the establishment of both presence and community. Surveys capture learners’ prior knowledge, readiness and interests, and serve as an example of responsive teaching intended to enhance the interactions in an asynchronous online course. The authors share a description of the process and sample questions, as well as approaches to interpret and apply the survey data to course design, scaffolding learners through the learning process and online learning context. The importance of inviting student voice to help inform course design is a necessary step to creating relationships between instructors, learners and content and initiating a sense of community.
