Fostering a Sense of
Community in an Online
Classroom Setting
Venecia Williams & Christine Pitt

Teaching, Learning & Research Symposium February
2021

• Introduction

Agenda

• Community of Inquiry Framework
• Class activity as community
building exercise
• Student impact
• Future implications

Introduction: The Impact of Online Learning
• Switch to online learning has led to an increase in social isolation
• Students are lacking socialization within and between cohorts
• International students are likely to face increased feelings of isolation and loneliness
• Research found students with no preexisting mental health concerns were likely to
experience greater mental distress than students with preexisting concerns (Hamza et al.,
2020)

• Research recommends creating more opportunities to imitate in-person interaction
among students online (McKenzie-Sutter, 2020)

How can we promote social
interaction among
students in an online
classroom setting?

The Community of
Inquiry Model

(Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999)

• Outlines three essential elements that
create a successful higher education
online learning environment

Figure 1. Elements of an Educational
Experience (Garrison, Anderson & Archer,
1999, p. 88)

• Cognitive presence
• Social presence
• Teacher presence

How do we combine the
research, our observations
and the Community of Inquiry
Model into one activity?

Fostering Community
through Class Activities
• Using an online escape room activity to deliver
course content
• Intentionally created groups to facilitate
socialization between cohorts
• Replicating in-person socialization that
would happen on campus
• Utilized breakout rooms on Zoom
• Instructor led warm up and post activity
discussion

Escape Room & Community of Inquiry
COGNITIVE PR ESENCE

• Students provided
an opportunity to
critically engage
with topic
• Students reflect on
experience in
groups and
individually

SOCIAL PR ESENCE

TEACHER PR ESENCE

• Students work
together to achieve
goal

• Designingh and
explaining activity

• Students given
opportunity to
express own ideas
and make decisions

• Supporting students
throughout activity
• Directing discussion
and providing
feedback

Student Impact
• Positive Class Engagement
• Excitement on entering the room and seeing students from a different cohort
• Active engagement in both pre and post discussions
• Student Reflection Feedback
• Reflection questions directed at general experience and course concepts
• Students enjoyed spending time with students from other cohorts and liked
engaging in a fun activity

Future Implications: How can you implement the COI
Model in your online classroom?
• Key questions to consider when designing class activities:
• How can your students collaborate with each other over course content?
Social
Presence

Cognitive
Presence

Teacher
Presence

• How can you promote open communication and emotional expression to
build relationships?

• How can you encourage students to explore a problem together?

• How can you actively facilitate open discussions?

Key Takeaways

• We learned how much students miss seeing each other

• Newer students were happy to interact with a new cohort
• Our students want more activities like this
• Students appreciate the opportunity to discuss and communicate with each other

Thank You!
Questions?
vwilliams@vcc.ca
cpitt@vcc.ca

References
Fiock, H. S. (2020). Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses. International Review of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning, 21(1), 134–152.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher
education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.
Hamza, C. A., Ewing, L., Heath, N. L., & Goldstein, A. L. (2020). When social isolation is nothing new: A longitudinal study
psychological distress during COVID-19 among university students with and without preexisting mental health
concerns. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne.
McKenzie-Sutter, H. (2020, October 01). University students, schools grapple with mental health impacts of isolation. CTV News.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/university-students-schools-grapple-with-mental-health-impacts-of-isolation-1.5128772