Online learning has opened the door to new opportunities, such as finishing bachelor’s degrees, continuing education, and career advancement, for those who otherwise might not have the means or access to enroll in traditional programs. But the opportunity to learn online also comes with some challenges, including limited ways to collaborate and the growing sense of isolation students experience when they don’t have the built-in social interactions of your on-campus courses. In this article, we’re exploring some research-backed ways you can build community in your fully online course and help your students foster virtual partnerships with other students so they feel more connected and engaged—all of which leads to a more meaningful online learning experience.
Why Community & Collaboration is Important
Facilitating student collaboration online can be a challenging task and one that many instructors might not be prepared for. Virtual team projects and discussions can be particularly challenging, as students grapple with issues related to technology, management, communication, and culture (Flammia et al., 2016). Despite these challenges, collaboration continues to be one of the most effective instructional methods for students.
When students feel more connected, they’re more comfortable sharing ideas and perspectives, which fosters a greater sense of course community. In fact, a hefty amount of educational research highlights the benefits of collaborative and communal learning. In one national study of more than 80,000 first-year and senior college students, researchers found that participating in a learning community, where a group of students worked together in multiple classes, was associated with higher levels of engagement, satisfaction, and learning outcomes achievement.
When students feel they belong, they are more likely to be motivated to complete class work, feel safe enough to contribute to discussions, and be open to the kind of feedback that can help them improve. It’s just a bit more challenging to facilitate this kind of partnering, collaborating, and community building online. The following strategies are designed to help you do that—turning passive online learners into active ones who feel connected, engaged, and part of a classroom community online.
How to Create Opportunities for Connection & Collaboration
Like many aspects of teaching, attending to these dimensions in a fully online course takes intentional planning. So now, you’ll have to step into the formal role of community builder so your online students can experience meaningful moments of interaction and collaboration. Here are some ways to do it.
Use Course Discussions
Use an online discussion tool that integrates with your LMS to engage students in an online course discussion about a particular topic related to the class curriculum to help them not only improve their critical thinking skills but also encourage them to engage with others in the class in a meaningful way. Use thoughtful prompts, like discussing expectations vs results of a particular assignment, to establish this conversation as a forum to connect with each without the pressure of a graded assignment. During these online discussions, encourage students to share videos and photos. When students include media with their discussion, they’re more likely to engage.
You can also create student-led discussions, assigning student leaders for each discussion. These students are responsible for facilitating the discussion, which includes asking course participants different questions, opening the group up to different perspectives, and encouraging participants who are making unclear contributions to give examples and factual evidence of their points.
You can also create small-group discussions. Send students off into their own discussion pairs or small-groups to share their reflections on particular assignments and be sure to assign a discussion leader for each group. Studies show that these kind of online discussions, including student-led ones, enhance community and encourage other students’ participation, while also being beneficial for learning outcomes — generating innovative ideas and providing a risk-free, more relaxed atmosphere for discussion.
Encourage students to submit assignments using a variety of multimedia options, from pictures and video to written text and audio. Students today are digital natives and accustomed to communicating and learning through a variety of media, especially video. Considering that 80% of people use YouTube and video to learn something new or improve skills that will help them prepare for the future, it’s a no-brainer that incorporating multimedia will get students a little more excited to engage with course content, than say, a 50-page reading assignment.
Have students introduce themselves through pictures or video during that first week. Offering students a choice in how they complete assignments but still fits within your parameters supports a more inclusive approach to learning and increases the sense of belonging and community your students experience. Similarly, go broad and wide on how you deliver material. Employ a variety of multimedia, including video, journal articles, podcasts, simulations, case studies, and interactive learning objects to deliver concepts. Share perspective through recorded video microlectures to synthesize key concepts and provide friendly video reminders around expectations. When you offer instructional content and resources in a variety of ways, you’re going to be able to reach a wider set of students whose abilities and learning styles all vary.
Incorporate Students’ Experiences & Expertise
Students come to your course with a wide range of knowledge and experiences, and have insights to share. Invite students, independently or in small groups, to solve math problems, for example, in front of their peers (virtually) and explain their solutions. Involving students as teachers heightens interdependence, mutual respect, and engagement—valuable components for building community.
Provide a Clear Course Roadmap from the Start
Imagine yourself in your students’ shoes. It might be your first online course ever. Normally, this student would have reminders from you at the end of every class, handouts to aid them during course discussions, and that real-time guidance as you circulate the classroom. But now, that online student feels on their own, not sure how to ask for help, and hesitates to participate.
How you kick off your course will set the tone for that student’s level of engagement and sense of belonging. So consider the first few days of your course an opportunity to set the stage. Here are some ways to set clear expectations and provide guidance so students feel comfortable, confident, and clear on what to expect.
- Remind students how and where to find course material, and explain how that material aligns with the objectives of the course.
- Keep due dates for important assignments top of students’ minds and make sure a syllabus and online rubric tied to the course’s learning outcomes are highly visible.
- Anticipate potential questions from students and prepare a quick FAQ resource.
- Set expectations for how students will interact in the course. Explain the ways they will collaborate and work with one another. This can help mitigate feelings of loneliness or isolation students might anticipate at the start of an online course.
- Use tools so you can share ongoing feedback with students, giving them opportunities to improve for the next lesson.
For that feedback, you can use collaborative online tools that integrate with your Learning Management System to ease the process of giving ongoing feedback. With tools like this, you can focus your time on giving students the feedback and guidance they need to continue improving on their performance, which is proven to motivate students to continue engaging in your course. As an added bonus, you can also leverage Engagement Insights, which help you identify students who may be falling behind in certain areas — giving you the opportunity to provide an extra layer of guidance that gets them back on track.
Provide Real-Time Opportunities
While most online courses are meant to provide flexibility for students, many students appreciate opportunities to interact live. You can give them options to connect virtually via group projects and synchronous meetings to keep them engaged. Have them use the chat, discussion, and video tools to connect.
Building a Thriving Learning Community in your Online Course
In the end, building community is all about student engagement and how motivated your students are to learn. Learning improves when students are inquisitive, interested, or inspired, and learning tends to suffer when students are bored, dispassionate, or disaffected. While fully online courses won’t necessarily look the same as in-person or blended learning courses, tailoring the concepts used inside your classroom is an opportunity to increase collaboration and get students excited about learning online.
All of these strategies are intended to help you to do just that—encourage participation, engage students, and build connections. When you have engaged students, you’ll have students who feel like they belong in your course. With that belonging, a strong sense of community can blossom, and your students will feel seen and connected through an experience that ultimately mirrors the authenticity of a traditional on-campus learning experience.
If you’re interested in learning how Harmonize can power your online programs, let’s connect.
