Creating Community in Online Classes
2 likes796 views
The document discusses the importance of creating a sense of community in online classes, highlighting its positive effects on retention, learning, and student satisfaction. It outlines the Community of Inquiry model, which includes cognitive, social, and teaching presence, and provides practical tips for fostering online community, such as using forums, synchronous meetings, and collaborative projects. Recommended strategies also emphasize the role of instructors as facilitators and the need for informal communication channels among students.
![Recommended Reading
Gerstein, J. (2013). Facilitating a sense of community in online and blended learning environments
[Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from Slideshare:
https://www.slideshare.net/jgerst1111/building-community-in-online-learning-classes?qid=4
c30758a-cbae-4b9f-9138-48ed5acacd21&v=&b=&from_search=1
*Nash, S. S. (2010). Moodle 1.9 teaching techniques. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub.
*Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
*Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching training manual. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
● Sense of Community Index
● Community of Inquiry website
● Three Presences Survey
● 7 Things Instructional Designers Can Do to Improve Social Presence in Online Learning
*Books available in South College Library
Other Resources](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/creatingcommunityinonlineclasses-170505002336/85/Creating-Community-in-Online-Classes-17-320.jpg)
Creating Community in Online Classes
- 1. Creating Community in Online Classes Seth Allen, MLIS, MA Instructional Technologist South College tinyurl.com/sconlinecommprez
- 2. Why Does Community Matter? ● It boosts retention. The levels of ‘social integration’, the sense of community one has with the peers and informal ‘academic integration’, the rapport that a student has with their instructor, are positively correlated with retention and academic success (Liu, Gomez, and Yen, 2009; Tinto, 1994) ● It increases learning. Students who report higher levels of connectedness have higher grades, report learning more, and are more confident in their academic abilities (Karcher, 2009; Rovai, 2003; Sontage, 2009). ● It increases course and program satisfaction. Students who feel a strong connection with peers and instructors are more satisfied with course and programs (Moisey, et al., 2008)
- 3. Tips for Creating Online Community
- 4. Community of Inquiry The Community of Inquiry (COI) model is cited in nearly every study of online course community. The COI has model has three interdependent elements: ● Cognitive Presence - Ability of learners to construct meaning through sustained communication ● Social Presence - Ability of students to ‘be themselves’ in a community of peers ● Teaching Presence - 1) Selection, organization delivery of teaching materials, 2) Facilitating social & cognitive presence of learners Read More About the COI Model
- 5. Community of Inquiry: Social Presence 1. Emotional expression 2. Open communication 3. Group Cohesion Cognitive Presence Teaching Presence Social Presence Interaction re: goals/direction Regulated learning Interaction re: goals/direction Engagement with participants 3 Elements of Social Presence Indicators (examples only) 1. Using emoticons 2. Risk-free expression 3. Encouraging collaboration Table adapted from: Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87-105.
- 6. Tips on Facilitating Online Community ● Make students accountable for contributing to collaborative projects ○ Enforce deadlines for online discussion so that students are not ‘out of sync’ with online discussions (Brown, 2001; Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006) ● Create outlets for informal social communication ○ Add a simple discussion forum or encourage students to set up a closed Facebook page (keep it closed for FERPA compliance. ○ Ask students to introduce themselves in an introductory forum (Brown, 2001; Shackleford & Maxwell, 2001) ● Be a good role model ○ Students are more inclined to participate when professors respond, clarify, and synthesize group discussions (Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006) ○ Practice civil discourse and establish netiquette guidelines (Brown, 2001)
- 7. Tips on Facilitating Online Community ● Offer synchronous web conferences ○ Students develop a human connection with instructors and classmates through videoconferencing sessions (Liu, Gomez, and Yen, 2001) and prefer asking questions in real time (Shackleford & Maxwell, 2012) ● Incentivize student participation and follow up with inactive students ○ Identify inactive students and encourage them to participate (Liu, Gomez, & Yen, 2001) ● Use small community-building activities before assigning collaborative group projects ○ Students appreciate and build community with learning groups rather than the whole class (Shackelford and Maxwell, 2012) ○ Peer-to-peer tutoring is often more effective than direct instruction (Crouch & Mazur, 2001; Vygotsky, 1980)
- 8. Putting Theory into Action in Moodle
- 9. Use Activity Completion on Moodle Forums Add date parameters under ‘Restrict access’ to keep students posting within that week. You can also require students to post or reply to peers under ‘Activity completion’.
- 10. Leverage Small Groups and Peer Instruction Create learning groups for collaborative learning activities or discussions. To do this in Moodle, click on the Administration block Users Groups. You can create random groups or assign individuals to a group. NOTE: The Workshop, Wiki, and Glossary activities in Moodle are excellent for group assignments.
- 11. Add Synchronous Meetings/Office Hours You can add a synchronous meeting time or conduct office hours online using Big Blue Button or Blackboard Collaborate. To add either one, click ‘Add an activity’ and select one of these programs. NOTE: Blackboard Collaborate is the more robust option - you can create breakout sessions within a group. A detailed comparison of the two products can be found here.
- 12. Create Informal Opportunities for Student -to-Student Interaction You can create a real-time chat session by adding Chat under ‘Add an activity’ and create private chat groups. If you want to create a group in Facebook, make sure you set the group to ‘Secret Group’ - making a group public is a FERPA violation. Read more about FERPA and Facebook Use Secret Group under privacy settings
- 13. Group Discussion 1. What am I currently doing to facilitating social presence/community online? 2. What could I do better to facilitate social presence/community in my online classes? Let’s take a look at the Three Presences Survey, a pilot survey for online courses at South College. The ‘Social Presence’ section (pp. 1-2) has a list of several questions that students could answer regarding the course. Take a moment and reflect on these then let’s discuss the following:
- 15. References Brown, R. E. (2001). The process of community-building in distance learning classes. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2), 18-35. Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics, 69(9), 970-977. Karcher, M. (2009). Increases in academic connectedness and self-esteem among high school students who serve as cross-age peer mentors. Professional School Counseling, 12(4), 292-299. Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87-105. Liu, S. Y., Gomez, J., & Yen, C. J. (2009). Community college online course retention and final grade: Predictability of social presence. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(2). Rovai, A. P. (2003). The relationships of communicator style, personality-based learning style, and classroom community among online graduate students. The Internet and Higher Education, 6(4), 347-363.
- 16. References (Continued) Shackelford, J. L., & Maxwell, M. (2012). Sense of community in graduate online education: Contribution of learner to learner interaction. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(4), 228-249. Shea, P., Li, C. S., & Pickett, A. (2006). A study of teaching presence and student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses. The Internet and Higher Education, 9(3), 175-190. Sontag, M. (2009). A learning theory for 21st-century students. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 5(4), 2. Vincent, T. (1994). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- 17. Recommended Reading Gerstein, J. (2013). Facilitating a sense of community in online and blended learning environments [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/jgerst1111/building-community-in-online-learning-classes?qid=4 c30758a-cbae-4b9f-9138-48ed5acacd21&v=&b=&from_search=1 *Nash, S. S. (2010). Moodle 1.9 teaching techniques. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub. *Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. *Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching training manual. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ● Sense of Community Index ● Community of Inquiry website ● Three Presences Survey ● 7 Things Instructional Designers Can Do to Improve Social Presence in Online Learning *Books available in South College Library Other Resources