But the sense of community and connection in online classes varies, and I've experienced this both in online classes that I've taught and online classes where I participated as a student.
Recently, I completed two long-term online classes as a student - a three year online doctoral program from Western University and the Self-Regulation Facilitators course from The MEHRIT Centre which took about 18 months. In both classes, a range of strategies helped us to build community and connections, even though we never met in person.
At the #BIT2018 conference in Niagara Falls this November, I am facilitating a Learning Spaces conversation around the topic of Building Community in Online Classrooms. I'm looking for ideas from both the perspective of the teacher and the participants about How do you build a sense of community in an online classroom?
Some strategies from my own experience:
1. Small group size. At Western, our cohort of 13 students remained together during the entire three years so it was easy to get to know one another. At the MEHRIT Centre, when I teach the Foundations Courses, I typically have an average of 15 students. Even though the courses are only 6 weeks long, I still have time to get to know each student.
2. Online video classes. In addition to our online discussion boards, readings and assignments, our courses at Western included several video conferences each semester using Blackboard Collaborate. Timing these was problematic, as we had students in China, Qatar, Tanzania, Alberta, and Mexico. If the video conference was at 8 pm, then it was 3 am for the student in Tanzania and 8 am in China. But these video conferences allowed us to chat with our instructors and one another in small groups.
3. Group Work. When I saw that we were required to do some group assignments in our courses at Western, I was hesitant. But the group work assignments were really helpful. Even though we had to deal with time differences and technology challenges, we got to know one another. One of our assignments was to read a section of each person's major paper, and give them feedback. My partner and I had two Skype meetings; we spent more time talking about the program and the course assignments in general than giving feedback, but that it was good to be able to have that conversation. However, not all group work assignments build community. One of our group assignments for Western had us working in a group of 7. There were 6 questions so each of us took one question, and posted our answer on a google doc. The last person to pick was assigned the task of editing for clarity and continuity, and then presenting our group's work to the class. I didn't really get to know anyone in my group during that assignment.
4. Social Media. Both the Western EdD group and the MEHRIT Centre facilitators group have a Facebook page. Not everyone has joined, but those who have are able to connect informally on Facebook to share resources, ask questions and stay in touch. I also follow online colleagues on Twitter and Instagram, and share ideas there as well.
What other strategies for building an online community have you experienced, either as a student or as an instructor?
How do we build a collaborative learning community in an online environment?
Please share your ideas!
Update:
Doug Peterson and Stephen Hurley had a very interesting conversation about this blog post on This Week In Ontario Edublogs, which you can listen to at the archives on VoicEd.ca
Their conversation prompted me to think more deeply and write another blog post on this topic.
