The Distance Educator & Student Anxiety

This idea for this post came from a specific section of the Moore & Kearsley textbook "Distance Education: A Systems View of Online Learning" in Chapter 6.

The authors state:

"Students are generally more defensive when taking a course from an unseen instructor than they would be in a conventiona class, but most are unlikely to express this anxiety."

They go on to explain that students are all looking for different levels of a relatoionship and support form the instructor - from both extremes. This led me to wonder what are some applied pieces of advice instructors can be given to better facilitate an anxiety-free classroom that engages students.

1. Include a picture that is friendly rather than a professional headshot. (Moore & Kearsley explain that an instructor humanizes a DE classroom and experience. (p.107)
2. Include a bio that explains professional experience and expertise, however be sure to include interests or facts that are relatable for students. Encourage students to do the same when introducing themselves. 
3. Provide students with a simple survey or discussion forum where they are asked to explain what level of suppor they look for from an instructor - follow up and make your teaching philosophy, what level of support you think is appropriate, etc. known to the class. Be willing to adjust if necessary. 
4. Ask students in the first week of class what items on the syllabus provide the most anxiety and they feel need additional clarification so you can spend the following weeks preparing extra assistance or clarifying directions if necessary. 
5. Ask students how they keep themselves accountable for their coursework, have them share best practices, ask how you can motivate them, make this forum or conversation publicly available to the class so they can learn from eachother. 
6. Make sure all communications to the class are conversational in nature, when you think something might be taken in an unintended way, be crystal clear in saying (this is sarcastic) or (this is a friendly reminder). 
7. Respond to all inquiries within 24 hours.
8. When providing feedback, make it detailed and be sure to include remarks that explain parts of the assignment you found particularly interesting. Use feedback as a way to help students improve but also motivate them. The students should know there is a real human on the other side of the computer. 
9. Encourage exceptional students by sending personal notes that suggest further learning or reading. For example, "I saw you were particularly engaged in the Module 3 forum, you should read this article that was just published, it has a few questions for further research at the end you may be interested in pursuing." 

What do you think? Anything that should be added? What other tips would you give to first time distance education instructors regarding limiting student anxiety and building an engaging classroom space?