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In this section, we explore the “classroom climate” of an online course, specifically, how instructors create an online learning environment that encourages the formation of a community of learners. Many instructors new to the online environment express concern about the geographical distance from/between students. How do we leverage student diversity in knowledge, skills, strengths and perspective in a manner that builds a collective knowledge and leads to growth?
What Is An Online Learning Community?
The student-to-student interaction that we have encouraged since the beginning of this seminar is key to creating an online learning community. “Community” denotes that feeling of trust and collegiality that comes when students feel comfortable enough to share their ideas, when they believe the instructor cares about them and what/how they are learning, and when the learning is engaging enough for students to actually learn something. Other types of online communities exist but the distinction with an online learning community is that participants are coming together online for the specific purpose (and usually, a specific time frame) to learn.
Why Build a Community?
Boettcher and Conrad (2004) contend that creating community in an online course can:
- Increase participation
- Decrease student isolation
- Increase the likelihood of introducing different perspectives
- Support quick and easy communication
- Support the use of interactive instructional strategies
- Help with classroom management
- Encourage students to be more self directed
- Promote student responsibility for facilitating discussion, ensuring access to content resources, and providing technical support.
For Your ConsiderationSome educators define an online learning community through the Community of Inquiry model, a theoretical framework introduced by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer in 2000. The use of inquiry refers to the idea that community members are gathering for the express purpose of learning something. This material will be covered in some detail in the eCampus Teaching Online Seminar.
Notice how the three types of interaction involving online students with each other (S-S), the content (S-C), and the teacher (S-T) are inherent in the model:
- Social Presence – The instructor establishes a trusting environment where participants identify with a community of learners, develop interpersonal relationships, and communicate purposefully while projecting their individual personalities. You might think of this in terms of the Student-to-Student interaction.
- Cognitive Presence – Developing an environment where learners participate in sustained reflection and discourse in order to construct and confirm meaning. This is similar to the Student-to-Content interaction concept.
- Teaching Presence – Designing, facilitating, and directing cognitive and social processes in order to realize meaningful and worthwhile learning outcomes. This correlates to the idea of Student-to-Instructor