We know from the research on learning that experiencing a sense of belonging and connection in our classes is essential for students to engage and persevere. How can we help our students feel the human connection in the disembodied online classroom? In earlier sessions, we explored creating social presence in our online courses to motivate students. In this session, we’ll discuss ways to foster authentic connection by crafting meaningful student interactions, communicating our support, and cultivating a community of connected individuals in the virtual classroom. Bring your lunch or a snack and join your colleagues for conversation!

Please review the following articles in preparation for our discussion:

• Fostering Social Presence in the Online Classroom: Helping Students Meet Affective Learning Objectives, ILA Intersections, 2018.
• Teaching to Connect: Community-Building Strategies for the Virtual Classroom, Online Learning, 2019.

Please bring your thoughts on these ideas and share your experiences of the results/impact/feedback you’ve received from students when you’ve tried to build community in various ways.

You may also wish to review the following book chapters that we discussed at a previous session (available as ebooks from the AOK library):

• Chapter 4: “Building Community” from Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby with James Lang--provides a few key ideas to help you think through the process.
• Chapter 6: “Developing Interactivity, Social Connection, and Community” from Online Teaching at Its Best by Linda Nilson and Ludwika Goodson--provides a deeper dive into these issues and links to resources.

Please click “Going” below to reserve your seat for this session, and we will send you a Google calendar invitation with a WebEx link one hour before the session. If you register less than an hour before the session, you will receive the WebEx link when you register. Please email fdc@umbc.edu if you have any questions. If you have registered and find that you can no longer attend, please kindly release your spot so that others may attend.

√ Counts toward ALIT Certificate
§ Counts towards INNOVATE Certificate