LE10

Welcome to Learning Event 10 🎯

Cultivate a Sense of Belonging 🌟

Focus:
Explore strategies to foster a sense of community and belonging among students in online and hybrid courses. A strong sense of belonging improves student engagement, retention, and success.

Key Concepts:

• The importance of belonging in learning environments.
• Strategies for creating inclusive and welcoming online spaces.
• Building relationships through intentional course design and communication.

Content Outline:

1. The Importance of Belonging

   • Connection to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
   • How belonging impacts engagement and learning outcomes.

2. Strategies for Building Community

   • Creating a welcoming course introduction.
   • Using icebreakers and group activities to build rapport.
   • Encouraging authentic student interaction through discussion boards, peer review, and collaborative projects.

3. Maintaining Belonging Over Time

   • Providing consistent and meaningful feedback.
   • Celebrating student successes and milestones.
   • Addressing challenges and fostering resilience.

READ 📖

1. Building belonging in online classrooms: relationships at the core – Dulfer, Gowing, & Mitchell, 2023.
   “By examining how online strategies and environments can be used to support students’ connections, we demonstrate how universities could reduce student attrition, enhance student wellbeing, and improve student achievement.”

2. Bichronous Online Learning: Blending Asynchronous and Synchronous Online Learning – Martin, Polly, & Ritzhaupt, 2020.
   “The blend of synchronous and asynchronous online learning potentially reduces some of the challenges of asynchronous online learning alone, including a lack of immediacy, community, interaction, and audiovisual communication.”

3. Promoting a Sense of Belonging in Online Learning Communities of Inquiry – Peacock & Cowan, 2019.
   “A sense of belonging (SoB) framework focuses on the overlapping intersections of the three influences: ‘Trusting’, ‘Meaning-making’ and ‘Deepening understanding’.”

WATCH 🎥

1. Building community with asynchronous voice and video discussions (5:22)
2. Creating a Powerful Fully Online Learning Community (4:02)
3. Introduction to the Community of Inquiry framework (17:19)

DISCUSS 💬

How do you foster a sense of belonging in your courses, and what challenges have you faced?

DO ✍️

Create a Plan to Foster Belonging

• Identify one strategy to build community in your course and implement it.
• Reflect on how this strategy impacts student engagement and connection.

Self-Check:

• Does your course structure promote interaction and collaboration?
• Are you providing opportunities for students to share their identities and perspectives?
• How do you encourage students to take ownership of their learning community?

Share Your Work!

We’d love to hear how you applied this Learning Event in your courses. Email us at hello@digitallyliterate.net to share your experiences!