Online teaching ‘Superpowers’: Engagement and belonging

Teaching online is about more than technology and content. At the heart of the online experience are the humans behind the teaching and the skills they bring to creating engaging, connected, and supportive environments.

This webinar explores how educators can recognise and draw on their existing strengths, their ‘superpowers’, to build a learning culture that supports student engagement, belonging, and success. Without the immediate feedback and interaction of face-to-face learning, teaching online can sometimes feel like communicating into a void. This session shifts the focus from what technology can do to what humans can do to create greater impact.

You will reflect on the human skills that help you feel capable, confident, and connected in your online teaching. Through practical ideas, examples, and shared reflection, we will explore how educator presence, communication, and connection can help create an online culture where both educators and students can engage, connect, and thrive.

The facilitators

Celia Di Iorio, MEd, is an experienced educator and digital learning professional with more than 25 years of experience across primary education, higher education, and online learning. Celia is driven by a passion for creating engaging and connected learning experiences and supporting educators to feel confident, capable, and effective in online environments.

Across roles in primary schools, Swinburne Online, and Australian Catholic University, Celia has worked across teaching, educator development, professional experience, and digital education. As Associate Director, Professional Experience – Education at Swinburne Online, she has led teaching teams and supported the delivery and development of professional experience across multiple education programmes. Her work has also included nationally recognised innovation in technology-enhanced learning and initiatives focused on educator wellbeing.

Celia is the co-author of Keeping Up with Teaching: Strategies for Thriving in the 21st Century and brings extensive experience in mentoring, coaching, and educator development. She is passionate about reimagining online engagement and fostering learning cultures where educators and students feel connected, supported, and able to thrive.

Heather Russell, MBus, is a dedicated higher education professional with extensive experience across tertiary teaching, online pedagogy, and student transition and retention. Driven by a passion for transforming student experience, support, and success, she has led initiatives that strengthen engagement for all learners, with a particular focus on non‑traditional and equity‑priority cohorts.

Across roles at Australian Catholic University, Swinburne University of Technology, and Online Education Services, Heather has championed innovative coaching models, retention strategies, and programme‑wide quality assurance frameworks. As a Course Director, she managed large multidisciplinary teaching teams and was responsible for the delivery of accredited undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across Business, Law, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths), Psychology, and Social Sciences.

With over 25 years of experience coaching students and professionals, Heather brings deep expertise in mentoring, communication, leadership, and team and organisational dynamics. She is passionate about fostering cultures and supporting those who contribute to student capability, confidence, and success.

The organisers

Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand (FLANZ) and Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) bring this webinar to you as part of APODE Week. The Asia-Pacific Online Distance Education week will be held from 10 to 12 November 2026 and will explore the topics around learning and teaching at times of increasing generative AI use and how education can stay human. We partner with EDEN Digital Learning Europe who was holding the European Open and Digital Learning Week (EODLW) at the same time.

This event will take place on 10 November 2026 at 1pm NZDT / 11am AEDT. Check your time zone if the event time is not calculated for your time zone above.

The event image is by Zacqueline Baldwin, shared on Unsplash.