DE Oracle @ UMUC

Building a Sense of Community in the WebTycho Classroom

Jerald Levine

Adjunct Faculty

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: 0 2004

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Facilitating-student-communities

When people physically meet in a classroom, a sense of community can flow naturally.  This sense of community contributes to students finding support, success, and satisfaction in their learning experience. A sense of community is even more important in the online classroom but requires special effort to create it.

What do we mean by a sense of community?  I expect there would be several closely related definitions that capture the subtleties and essence of this relationship.  After all, communities are about relationships.  They provide a sense of belonging.  They reflect common interests.  A communion in a religious and secular sense is an act of sharing or exchanging ideas, thoughts, opinions, and feelings.  In addition, community denotes common ownership and participation in the day-to-day activities of the community.  With that working grasp of what a community is, we can explore how one might create a sense of community in the WebTycho classroom.  The following is what I have done to try to instill a sense of community in my online classes.

My training for online teaching very effectively moved me in the direction of community building, particularly through use of three topics I continue to use in my "Getting Started" conference:  Introduce Yourself, Name the Cyberbar, and Course Expectations.  In my "Introduce Yourself" topic, I ask my students what they like to be called ― other than "Dude" or "Girlfriend" so as to avoid confusing one another (ok, ok, but it keeps it light!). I ask them to share some biographical information with all of us, and to respond to three classmates' bios.  I respond to the students as well, addressing them by the names they prefer and finding some small but unique point of connection to each.  This starts the process of building relationships.  Students are able to engage classmates and discuss commonalities and experiences, which increases their comfort level, especially if new to the online environment.  Shared interests are discovered.  A sense of connectedness develops across the "cyber divide" as classmates get to know each other and are perhaps reassured they can ask for and depend on one another for assistance.

My "Name the Cyberbar" main topic encourages the students to express their senses of humor and to be original —Anyway, who wants to "hang out" in a place called "ADMN601 Lounge"!  The exercise moves students in the direction of "let your hair down, be yourself," and it helps them begin to develop shared as well as individual online personas.  In various semesters, they've proposed, thrashed out, and voted on the winning cyberbar names, "Cyber Perk Café," "Spill It Cybercafe," and "Kick Back Shack."  But it isn't the name that ultimately is important, it's the process.

My third Getting Started topic is "Course Expectations."  I ask students to discuss what their expectations are for ADMN 601, what their expectations are for the instructor, what their expectations are for each other in the course.  This can effectively help set high standards and a positive tone for the semester ― hopefully a self-fulfilling prophecy.  (Of course, I particularly liked the post that said, "Love your Instructor... Have compassion for your instructor... Revere your instructor," although I am uncertain whether that became a self-fulfilling prophecy!!!)  This topic establishes students' shared comfort level with what they'll need to do to be successful in the class; they put each other on notice and establish accountability.  This is an important part of establishing community: understanding the laws of the land and offering commitment.

By the end of the first week, the students are familiar with and accustomed to communicating with each other.  I am an active participant in the Getting Started Conference, so the students are likewise comfortable and at ease with me, and we've established a rapport.  The cornerstone of our online community has now been laid.

Course structure and design also contribute to creating a sense of community online.  In my classes, the Study Group is an instrumental feature in this respect.  Study Group membership provides and encourages more intimate working relationships.  Group members share and exchange ideas, opinions, and feelings about the course material and work together on assignments, etc.  The sharing is extended to the entire class as the groups post their work in the class conference.  Some Study Groups opt to use the chat room; this communication in real time can enhance their own community building.

Weekly conference topics that require students to post and respond to classmates' posts on germane topics continue the communication stream and strengthen the online class community.  I also sometimes use a "generational" community-building technique to close a discussion, by presenting issues raised by some of my previous students.*

The confluence of the interaction that takes place in the online classroom is the creation of feelings of trust.  This sense of trust not only greatly contributes to the sense of community but it stimulates a willingness to spontaneously share relevant experiences, ideas, articles, URLs, and even a joke or two.  The development of trust provides the center beam of the cyber classroom.

The mutually reinforcing walls of the online learning community are regular participation; freedom to inquire and explore; an expanding understanding; and ultimately, "ownership" of both the classroom and the course material.  Students' level of effort and willingness to actively participate in their Study Groups and class conferences are instrumental in fostering a positive learning environment and a community of practice within these cyber walls.  The net result of community building efforts in the WebTycho environment ideally is a class that is engaged, interested in the material and learning, and comfortable "hanging out together" in the online classroom.

*Permission can be obtained as appropriate, and traceability can be provided while maintaining privacy, by including the students' initials and dates next to the items included in a collection of comments.