The use of an effectively designed participant survey, which is administered at the outset of an online course, can provide information that is useful in the management of the learning environment and in its subsequent redesign. Providing such information can help to clarify the participants’ prior experience, expectations, concerns, and even anxiety. The very act of inquiring about the learner also signals the instructor’s social presence, relational interest, and desire to enter into an authentic dialogue during the learning engagement.