New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Flower Darby, "The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes" (U Oklahoma Press, 2026)
Apr 12, 2026
Flower Darby, an associate director and seasoned higher-ed instructor who researches online teaching, shares why loving asynchronous classes matters. She talks about course setup, creating warmth and small rapport in LMSs, using emotion to make prompts engaging, supporting persistence, and protecting instructor well-being with clear boundaries.
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Perceived Instructor Absence Drives Student Isolation
- Students often feel they must 'walk themselves through' asynchronous classes and perceive the instructor as absent.
- Darby links this feeling to course design practices where instructors build a course and then treat it as if it will run itself.
Prep The Course Thoroughly Before Day One
- Do the tedious design work before day one: organize navigation, update links, and clarify instructions.
- Darby compares it to prepping a car for a road trip so students avoid confusion and instructors avoid repetitive emails.
Use Warm Tone In Announcements To Spread Positivity
- Infuse warmth and personality into course announcements and messages to trigger emotional contagion.
- Darby replaced robotic notices with encouraging, conversational announcements like "hey, look how far you've come."
