Building community in an online environment can be challenging, but hugely important. By developing relationships with your online students, you are increasing the likelihood that they will be successful in your class.
- Be available - Most of us are already doing this, but simply being available to your students is a great way to build mutual respect. Make sure to personalize your course where you are able by adding video or pictures.
- Communicate....communicate....communicate! This is essential for any relationship to form! Make sure to introduce yourself to your class in the first week and reintroduce yourself in the first few weeks. Add new tidbits of information that will help students relate to you.
- Encourage them to interact! Online courses can be a difficult format to interact with other classmates. Encouraging your students to build relationships with each other will help establish building blocks for future interaction within the classroom.
- Make your class stand out! - In online courses it's extremely important to find ways to engage students and make them feel as part of a community. Creating discussion boards that discuss current events or common interests will help to build relationships within the online classroom. Social media pages are another resource that can be used as a brainstorming tool or social sharing resource for assignments.
Do you have a successful strategy for building online community? Help us share your good work by completing our online form here!
Thank you for all you do to help our students succeed!
- The Office of Academic Affairs at Granite State College
|
