In the "Humanizing Teaching and Learning" course, we learned different ways to be present in our course shells in order to create more meaningful human-centered learning experiences for our student. I learned that having a consistent online presence shows you care about the students, helps build community and increases students' motivation to log in to the course week after week.

In my courses, I have "humanized" in the following ways:

• Sharing video postcards in course announcements
• Posting introductory videos at the beginning of each unit
• Leaving video/audio timely feedback on assignments
• Connecting with students on social media and sharing resources
• Checking in periodically with students through personalized messages
• Oh.. and of course... posting Bitmojis (perhaps a bit too enthusiastically) in the modules each week

The value of humanizing is undeniable. Since I have begun to employ to these practices, I have witnessed greater levels of engagement, more connection among the students, and higher success rates overall.