A summary of evidence-based practices in creating community in online education, tips for leveraging Moodle tools to create online community, and a list of resources for further reading.

1. Creating Community
in Online Classes
Seth Allen, MLIS, MA
Instructional Technologist
South College
tinyurl.com/sconlinecommprez

2. Why Does Community Matter?
● It boosts retention. The levels of ‘social integration’, the sense of community
one has with the peers and informal ‘academic integration’, the rapport that a
student has with their instructor, are positively correlated with retention and
academic success (Liu, Gomez, and Yen, 2009; Tinto, 1994)
● It increases learning. Students who report higher levels of connectedness have
higher grades, report learning more, and are more confident in their academic
abilities (Karcher, 2009; Rovai, 2003; Sontage, 2009).
● It increases course and program satisfaction. Students who feel a strong
connection with peers and instructors are more satisfied with course and
programs (Moisey, et al., 2008)

3. Tips for Creating
Online Community

4. Community of Inquiry
The Community of Inquiry (COI) model is cited
in nearly every study of online course
community. The COI has model has three
interdependent elements:
● Cognitive Presence - Ability of learners to
construct meaning through sustained
communication
● Social Presence - Ability of students to ‘be
themselves’ in a community of peers
● Teaching Presence - 1) Selection, organization
delivery of teaching materials, 2) Facilitating
social & cognitive presence of learners
Read More About the COI Model

5. Community of Inquiry: Social Presence
1. Emotional expression
2. Open communication
3. Group Cohesion
Cognitive Presence
Teaching
Presence
Social Presence
Interaction re:
goals/direction
Regulated
learning
Interaction re:
goals/direction
Engagement with
participants
3 Elements of
Social Presence
Indicators
(examples only)
1. Using emoticons
2. Risk-free expression
3. Encouraging collaboration
Table adapted from:
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), 87-105.

6. Tips on Facilitating Online Community
● Make students accountable for contributing to collaborative projects
○ Enforce deadlines for online discussion so that students are not ‘out of sync’ with online
discussions (Brown, 2001; Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006)
● Create outlets for informal social communication
○ Add a simple discussion forum or encourage students to set up a closed Facebook page (keep it
closed for FERPA compliance.
○ Ask students to introduce themselves in an introductory forum (Brown, 2001; Shackleford &
Maxwell, 2001)
● Be a good role model
○ Students are more inclined to participate when professors respond, clarify, and synthesize group
discussions (Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006)
○ Practice civil discourse and establish netiquette guidelines (Brown, 2001)

7. Tips on Facilitating Online Community
● Offer synchronous web conferences
○ Students develop a human connection with instructors and classmates through
videoconferencing sessions (Liu, Gomez, and Yen, 2001) and prefer asking questions in real time
(Shackleford & Maxwell, 2012)
● Incentivize student participation and follow up with inactive students
○ Identify inactive students and encourage them to participate (Liu, Gomez, & Yen, 2001)
● Use small community-building activities before assigning collaborative group
projects
○ Students appreciate and build community with learning groups rather than the whole class
(Shackelford and Maxwell, 2012)
○ Peer-to-peer tutoring is often more effective than direct instruction (Crouch & Mazur, 2001;
Vygotsky, 1980)

8. Putting Theory into
Action in Moodle

9. Use Activity Completion on Moodle Forums
Add date parameters under
‘Restrict access’ to keep students
posting within that week.
You can also require students to
post or reply to peers under
‘Activity completion’.

10. Leverage Small Groups and Peer Instruction
Create learning groups for
collaborative learning activities or
discussions. To do this in Moodle,
click on the Administration block
Users
Groups. You can create random
groups or assign individuals to a
group.
NOTE: The Workshop, Wiki, and
Glossary activities in Moodle are
excellent for group assignments.

11. Add Synchronous Meetings/Office Hours
You can add a synchronous meeting time or
conduct office hours online using Big Blue Button or
Blackboard Collaborate. To add either one, click
‘Add an activity’ and select one of these programs.
NOTE: Blackboard Collaborate is the more robust
option - you can create breakout sessions within a
group. A detailed comparison of the two products
can be found here.

12. Create Informal Opportunities for
Student -to-Student Interaction
You can create a real-time chat session by
adding Chat under ‘Add an activity’ and
create private chat groups.
If you want to create a group in Facebook,
make sure you set the group to ‘Secret
Group’ - making a group public is a FERPA
violation.
Read more about FERPA and Facebook
Use Secret
Group under
privacy settings

13. Group Discussion
1. What am I currently doing to facilitating social
presence/community online?
2. What could I do better to facilitate social
presence/community in my online classes?
Let’s take a look at the Three Presences Survey, a pilot survey for online courses at
South College. The ‘Social Presence’ section (pp. 1-2) has a list of several questions
that students could answer regarding the course. Take a moment and reflect on
these then let’s discuss the following:

14. For Further
Reading

15. References
Brown, R. E. (2001). The process of community-building in distance learning classes. Journal of
Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2), 18-35.
Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results.
American Journal of Physics, 69(9), 970-977.
Karcher, M. (2009). Increases in academic connectedness and self-esteem among high school
students who serve as cross-age peer mentors. Professional School Counseling, 12(4), 292-299.
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), 87-105.
Liu, S. Y., Gomez, J., & Yen, C. J. (2009). Community college online course retention and final
grade: Predictability of social presence. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(2).
Rovai, A. P. (2003). The relationships of communicator style, personality-based learning style,
and classroom community among online graduate students. The Internet and Higher Education,
6(4), 347-363.

16. References (Continued)
Shackelford, J. L., & Maxwell, M. (2012). Sense of community in graduate online education:
Contribution of learner to learner interaction. The International Review of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning, 13(4), 228-249.
Shea, P., Li, C. S., & Pickett, A. (2006). A study of teaching presence and student sense of
learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses. The Internet and Higher
Education, 9(3), 175-190.
Sontag, M. (2009). A learning theory for 21st-century students. Innovate: Journal of Online
Education, 5(4), 2.
Vincent, T. (1994). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

17. Recommended Reading
Gerstein, J. (2013). Facilitating a sense of community in online and blended learning environments
[Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from Slideshare:
https://www.slideshare.net/jgerst1111/building-community-in-online-learning-classes?qid=4
c30758a-cbae-4b9f-9138-48ed5acacd21&v=&b=&from_search=1
*Nash, S. S. (2010). Moodle 1.9 teaching techniques. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub.
*Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
*Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching training manual. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
● Sense of Community Index
● Community of Inquiry website
● Three Presences Survey
● 7 Things Instructional Designers Can Do to Improve Social Presence in Online Learning
*Books available in South College Library
Other Resources