Building community and meaningful interactions are a vital part of learning.  According to Bates (2019) learning communities encourage the exploration and creation of existing and new knowledge and encourage critical thinking and transformational learning.  Learning communities are about the active engagement and participation of students in their learning.   In the physical classroom environment, community is all around us.  The physical proximity to one another in the classroom encourages interactions and community building on various levels – from a quick check-in with a student as you walk around, to students asking each other questions and pairing up to work on a task, to a full-on class discussion about a topic.  Sometimes face-to-face interactions are easier to integrate into learning – whether planned or spontaneous.  In the online learning environment, I find these interactions require more planning and even forethought, but they are just as meaningful and important to consider as those we may bring into the physical classroom.

Throughout my course design, I have attempted to give my students several opportunities to come together to create a sense of community, build knowledge, and actively engage in their learning.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the community-building aspects of my course in the K Patricia Cross Academy article 6 Strategies for Building Community in Online Courses.   But, I still feel there is more that I can do, and this is a start and jumping point to continue building this sense of community in the online component of our blended learning environment.

I will outline some of my course interactions and ways I hope to build community throughout my course.

A Plan for Communication 

I have provided my students with a couple of ways to communicate within the online course.  Within the Team platform, I have created a chat group for my class to enable them to post questions, answer questions, and share information and ideas. This is similar to Discord for this class, but built-in the platform I am using with my students. Criteria for the chat will be co-created at the start of the unit to ensure students know and understand the aims and expectations of the chat.

I have also created opportunities for students to join meetings within the class calendar.  While much of their online work will be done at school, the online meet enables students to join in and collaborate if they are absent.  The class team also has a General and Course channel where I can post class announcements and any information students need to know.  This keeps students informed of what is happening in the class whether they are present or absent at school and provides them with the resources they need to achieve success, and provides them with reminders so they can stay on track during the course.

Meet in Real-Time

This course is a blended learning experience.  Students will have opportunities throughout the course to meet in small groups to complete tasks.  We will also have face-to-face discussions.  Online, as I mentioned, students will have the option to join a meeting each day.  The face-to-face learning and collaboration coupled with the meeting option give students the connections they need and desire.

Establish a Social Presence

The K. Patricia Cross Academy recognizes that students enjoy interactions with real people as an aspect of creating community and include immediacy, intimacy, and interaction.  I feel all of these aspects are part of the course I am developing.  It offers a blend of proximity with students working independently, with a partner, and also in small groups.  Students will work in the physical and online classroom as well as other flexible seating and work environments.  During interactions, students will create knowledge and share their learning and experiences, using technology such as Flipgrid and discussion forums. Lessons will be introduced with a Teacher Introduction video related to the topic of the lesson and videos will be used to give students instructions about tasks and activities.

Use of Collaborative Learning Techniques

According to Bates (2019), collaborative online learning encourages and supports students to invent, explore, problem-solve and be active and engaged learners.  We see often see collaborative learning, and there are so many ways to create a collaborative learning community and environment online as well.  A number of ideas were presented by the K.Patricia Academy.  I was intrigued by the Paper Seminar and how to use it at some point in my teaching.

One of the main activities in the lesson I have built is a jigsaw.  I have chosen to use this activity to help students become familiar with life in the 1960s.  Because this is a more substantial topic, I have chosen to give groups of students a subtopic to research, become experts and share what they learned in a Padlet.  This is a blended learning activity as there will be face-to-face and online collaboration time.  Students will also share information with their group members in a collaboration space in Teams to support the building of knowledge and the creation of their Padlet section.

There are strengths in both online and classroom communities, and a blended learning experience gives students the benefits of both.  As Bates (2019) indicates, the constructivist collaborative online learning approach, when well planned and delivered, can lead to deep and transformative learning for students and teachers.  The aspects of collaboration I have included in my course are a jumping point, and I look forward to learning more about ways I can make my students’ learning engaging and meaningful.