Creating a Community

In my own personal experiences, having a sense of community in an online “classroom” just isn’t the same as in person. It can be isolating and somewhat boring without interaction. With that being said, there are still ways we can stay connected with one another to help build a community. In my opinion, communication is a key aspect in this.  Discussion boards, zoom calls, and group chats are just a few of my favourite ways to get to know my peers and build up a sense of community. Visit this article from the University of Toronto for more creative ideas and a guide to creating community online.

Instructor Presence

Photo by Samantha Borges on Unsplash

As per this week’s reading, instructor presence matters. Building off the last section on creating a community, instructors play a large role in class community. We rely on our instructors to relay information, provide quality instruction, and provide a lending hand. One thing that has proven helpful for me is instructors posting weekly, or even daily announcements. Often these announcements cover what needs to be done in the upcoming time period, and helporganize the information in a more digestible way.  For example, our professor’s blog page with weekly updates. These posts help me manage my time and stay on top of assignments. An open line of communication is another thing I have felt to be super helpful in an online course. In particular, asynchronous courses. Having an open line of communication where you can email and/or connect with an instructor whenever you need is super helpful. Especially when you don’t have a set class time, it can sometimes be tricky to get a hold of instructors. Communication with each other is key, in my experiences. Additionally, having an organized course site makes it so much easier to navigate tasks and overall maximize the learning experience. This website from the University of Oklahoma is awesome to check out! It takes a deep dive at the topics we focused on this week.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

This Week’s Main Takeaways

For me, this week provided a few main takeaways. These were as follows

  • Online community can make or break a learning experience
  • Instructors play a large part in how online community is formed
  • How we connect with one another online should be an important consideration of students and instructors alike