Annette Gonzales Director, Non-traditional Learning Moraine Valley Community College

Assistant Professor, Adjunct (UMUC)

gonzalesa49@morainevalley.edu Voice: 708.974.5296

Why is community important in an online class?

Many first time online students have commented that their lack of success in online classes includes the following:
Missing or disengaged instructor Poor feedback (not timely)

Feelings of isolation
Lack of motivation

A community is a group of people who are

What is a community?

socially interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision making, and who share certain practices that both define the community and are nurtured by it. Such a community is not quickly formed. It almost always has a history and so is also a community of memory, defined in part by its past and its memory of the past. (p. 333)

Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler and Tipton (1985), in their book Habits of the Heart.

What is a sense of community in the classroom?

In a traditional classroom students experience:

feelings of belonging, they share & exchange ideas

share common knowledge

create relationships and, share opinions and feelings, all within a specific environment.

How do we transfer that sense of community to an online environment?

Discussion Boards Announcements

Group Projects Feedback

Instructor Presence

Aviv (2000) suggests that the online instructor must encourage supportive interactive processes where class members can get to

know each other, develop social skills with

one another, and accept and support each

other.
Using your discussion board is a great way to encourage these behaviors.

Using the Discussion Board

Use your discussion board to create questions that provoke discussions among your students.

Include prompt questions that will encourage discussion. Ask them to relate something they just learned to something in their real world experiences, i.e., work or home life. Remember to participate in the discussion yourself.

Beginning of Week 1 Introductions

set up a conference or discussion for Week 1 asking students to introduce themselves. included specific question prompts for them to use, then ask them to post something personal, like a hobby. include another question (or a separate thread) that asks what their expectations for the class are.

Example:
Please introduce yourself to the class. Are you new to the university? Tell us what you are hoping to learn in this class. And, tell us something fun about yourself, do you have any hobbies? Have you traveled to or lived in another country?

Lets talk!

Be sure to set the expectation that students must respond to each others posts. Offer points towards their final grade as an incentive.
Example: Remember to respond to at least two of your classmates posts, as this is part of your participation grade. Tip: Post an example of what a good post looks like, and also what an unacceptable post looks like.

Set Expectations

Weekly discussions:
post weekly discussion questions that are relevant to the topic you are covering if possible, ask students to relate what they are learning to a real-life situation or application remind students to respond to at least two other posts try posting more than one discussion per week

Enhance your discussion boards by using audio or video.

Example:

View this video of Sylvia Plath reading her poem Daddy. Listen to the words carefully and identify the poetic styles she is using (use your terms list). Rewrite at least four lines from your free verse assignment applying what youve learned from this video, post your lines and discuss with each other.

Use Audio & Video

Create a cybercafe or a space where you and students can communicate freely. Try posting something about yourself, an experience you just hada way you incorporated something they just learned into your own life. Ora new restaurant you just tried.

Students often use this space to ask general questions.

Create a Bio section in your classroom and ask students to post their bio and to include a photo. Be sure to include your bio and a photo, too.

Group Project = Collaboration

students collaborate with each other toward a common goal

 assign groups early and make projects available early prompt students to begin early monitor the group activity and give prompt feedback

reward the first person to post with positive feedback let them know youre watching and are involved

Teacher Tips

 post reminders post tips for students on how to work in an online group contact non-participating students early and let other group members know youre trying (helps maintain positive morale within the group.) provide a rubric for the assignment

Teacher Tips

Using Announcements to Create Community

use weekly announcements to recap last weeks topic and to introduce the new one. provide positive feedback for the entire class post reminders and due dates use Announcements page to update the class of posted grades, etc.

Correspondence:
Provide students with a timeframe for when to expect a response from you when they email a question. no later than 24 hours

Let them know when you will be online or when you will be checking the online classroom and/or email.
Answer questions promptly and professionally.

Assignment Feedback:
Let students know when you will be grading their assignments and post updates on the Announcements page. Give individualized feedback referencing something from their work. Use rubrics as a feedback tool. Be sure to use positive language in your feedback, even if work is poor.

Mandermach et al. (2006) assert that

instructor presence is most impacted by:

teaching presence, instructor immediacy, and social presence.

Teaching presence involves frequent and effective interaction with the course instructor. Instructor immediacy refers to the behaviors that enhance closeness and nonverbal interactions with another.

Social presence refers to the salience of the

interpersonal interactions and relationships.

Establishing Your Presence as the Instructor

participate in the discussions and projects use the Announcements page to post updates at least a couple of times a week let students know you will be away from the class and when youll return give meaningful, individualized feedback

 be encouraging and helpful students want to know you care acknowledge good work on the Announcements page
thank them for their interesting discussions thank them for submitting work on time acknowledge exceptional work on papers and other assignments

All of the time and presence you put into your class will help your students feel that they are part of something, part of a real classpart of a community. Building an environment of encouragement and caring motivates students to stay in class.

Any questions or comments?

Thank you!