Creating online learning communities

By miranda.prynne, 15 March, 2021

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Teaser

Online education can be a lonely experience, but there are plenty of ways to foster community via digital channels. Here are a range of ideas for building online learning communities to give students a sense of belonging, support peer discussion and collaboration, boost engagement and improve learning outcomes.

Resource

By miranda.prynne, 11 January, 2021

Do unto students as they would have done to them

Practical advice on building equitable communities when teaching online

Maha Bali offers practical advice on building equitable learning communities online no matter what students’ bandwidth or synchronicity of the class

Reading time

3minutes

By miranda.prynne, 4 November, 2020

Creating a welcoming and inclusive online learning community

Create a welcoming online learning community

Creating a sense of community among students is vital for effective online teaching. Here, Miral Gibson explains how fostering this welcoming online learning environment should be pedagogy-led

By miranda.prynne, 25 February, 2021

Well-being pedagogies: activities and practices to improve the student experience online

Wellbeing pedagogies to boost the student experience online

With many concerned about the mental health effects of learning remotely, Elena Riva shares helpful practices that can boost student well-being in the online teaching and learning environment

Reading time

3minutes

By stefan.gagov, 22 October, 2020

Think-pair-share: how to structure online classes

When students discuss ideas and learn from one another, they absorb far more, which is the rationale behind the think-pair-share teaching model. Here José Guzman explains how he translated this to the online setting

By miranda.prynne, 23 October, 2020

How I fostered multilingual student discussion in asynchronous online classes

How to design asynchronous online teaching to foster high levels of spontaneous student discussion

Ioannis Gaitanidis explains how designed his asynchronous online teaching to foster the same level of spontaneous student discussion as his in-person classes

Reading time

4minutes

By miranda.prynne, 4 November, 2020

The power of peer to peer: how and why to encourage your students to learn from each other

How to encourage peer to peer learning when teaching online courses

Peer-to-peer learning brings major benefits for students and instructors. Here, Zachary Walker explains how to encourage your students to learn from each other and why this can be so effective when teaching online

By miranda.prynne, 15 February, 2021

How to offer students a rewarding university experience online

How universities can offer students a rewarding university experience online

Successfully teaching online is just one part of the battle to serve students remotely. Here David Woolley talks about what more universities can do to give students a fulfilling experience when they cannot attend in person

By miranda.prynne, 17 November, 2020

Soft skills: how to promote student collaboration in online environments

Promoting student collaboration in online classes

Online collaboration is not an innate skill for most students but something that instructors must cultivate. Hugh McFaul explains how he did this through careful design of the content and assessment on his course

By miranda.prynne, 27 January, 2021

Virtual exchange: supporting online collaboration to benefit all learners

Virtual exchange: enabling online group work that benefits all learners

Virtual exchanges enable group work between students in different locations, but studies show varied learning gains. Irina Rets and Bart Rienties use research to examine how instructors can manage virtual exchanges to ensure everyone benefits

By miranda.prynne, 17 November, 2020

Developing students’ confidence and sense of belonging online

Fostering a sense of belonging among remote students to aid learning

With most students new to online learning, many may lack the confidence to actively participate in group classes. Georgina Blakeley offers her tips on fostering a sense of belonging that aids interaction among students

By miranda.prynne, 4 December, 2020

Socio-emotional learning online: boosting student resilience and well-being

How the Open University of Hong Kong is offering socio-emotional learning to protect student well-being

The Covid-19 crisis has led to worsening mental health and increased stress among students. Kathleen Chim talks about how the Open University of Hong Kong has tried to build students’ mental resilience through socio-emotional learning

By miranda.prynne, 29 December, 2020

Forum-based online teaching to improve student engagement and motivation

Research shows forum based online learning helps keep students more engaged

A key challenge with online learning is maintaining student engagement and motivation. A forum-based teaching system, in which all students could see and compare their work within a shared online space, helped mitigate this challenge, researchers found

By miranda.prynne, 16 December, 2020

The art and science of online discussion forums

Online discussion forums are an effective way to ensure remote students engage critically with their subjects but require careful thought and planning by instructors, as Karen Srba explains

By miranda.prynne, 25 January, 2021

Experiment, test, refine: work with students to shape online courses

Gather student feedback throughout your online course to test and refine teaching methods

If you want to improve teaching, speak to the learners, explains Pat Tissington, who advocates using student feedback to continually experiment and adjust your online instruction methods throughout the course

Reading time

3minutes