Building Community within an Online Classroom

At UNH Online we believe that helping students develop a sense of belonging and community can impact learning in online and face-to-face courses, but attending to these dimensions in an online course takes intentional planning.

As our world grapples with changing educational modalities due to the impact of COVID-19, educators need to know, more than ever, how to create a virtual community. Here you will find a series of helpful tips that our UNH Online Student Success Team recommends for establishing community within an online course.

community infographic

Building Community Online Tips

Be present

By humanizing yourself, you will humanize your course. Start your class by introducing yourself and provide your students with your contact information. Throughout the term, be sure that you are giving your students consistent and timely feedback. You can even consider sharing feedback in an audio or video format to personalize your comments.

Connect students

Start the class off with introductions, which can be done by using a fun icebreaker to engage and connect the students. Throughout the class, provide opportunities for student collaboration and facilitate sharing and participation with synchronous class time. Be sure to also give students a virtual space to connect after class.

Create a communication plan

Utilize surveys to learn your students' preferred methods of communication. In turn, make your expectations clear with how you would like students to communicate with you. To make communication easy for your students, provide your contact information, a space for conversation, and hold consistent virtual office hours. 

Bring the outside in

It is important to make students feel a part of the broader school community. This can be done by incorporating school photos, sharing campus events and perhaps even using the school mascot in designing your online course shell. Helping students feel connected to the institution will help to aid in their retention success.