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5.2. Creating a Community of Learners

Creating a Community of Learners

In your online course, you will find that your students comprise a mix of ages, socio-economic status, ethnicity, English-proficiency, sexual or gender identity, ability, and geographic location. Despite all their differences, your students are coming together for the purpose of learning. Students will be more successful in your course if they feel that they are in a safe, welcoming space where they are appreciated as individuals. Here are some things you can do to help build a sense of community that is open and welcoming to all students.

• Get to know your students and help them get to know their peers in an icebreaker discussion board at the start of the semester. As you get to know students better, you may be able to help them connect with each other. For example, in responding to discussion posts, you might refer to another student's post that made a related or contrasting point. Getting to know your students and why they are taking your class can help you to better understand their needs and positively impact learning.


• Once you know your students better, you can tap into students' backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. In helping them to make these kinds of connections, you help them to connect with the content more deeply.


• Provide guidelines for expected behavior in the online course space. Set ground rules. This may include posting guidelines for online discussion netiquette. Because online communication can be easily misinterpreted, remind students that it is best to avoid sarcasm, to not use all CAPS as that may be taken for yelling, and to always use polite, inclusive language rather than slang or slurs. You should also make clear your expectations and hold students accountable for their behavior and make them accountable to each other. All ideas and viewpoints should be respected.


• Be a role model. In your own communication with students, be careful not to use stereotypes. Set a positive tone that is encouraging to students. Be approachable to students and let them know that you respect them as individuals. Show appreciation when students express views from multiple perspectives. 


• If your course contains group activities, consider assigning students to heterogeneous groups to give them experience working cooperatively with a diverse group of people. 


• Send an announcement at the beginning and end of each module to let students know what is coming up and to summarize what has just finished. Making sure that all students are on the same page helps to contribute to a sense the individual student is part of a group, of a larger learning community. You may even have students take turns in writing a summary post, making them accountable for communicating clearly with the entire group and not just with the instructor.