Helping students develop a sense of belonging in the online classroom can be a difficult process. Online students frequently perceive a sense of isolation within the online classroom. This sense of disconnect can often stem from a lack of contact between the student and instructor and from other students, a lack of attachment to the class as a perceivable entity, and the inability to forge a meaningful online identity. Ren et al. (2012) noted customers who believe they lack attachment and connections to a business's online site are unlikely to be repeat visitors. The same may hold true within the context of the online classrooms' discussion forums, as students who feel disconnected and lack a sense of attachment are likely to post less frequently, have poor quality posts, and may stop posting altogether.

A salient aspect of the online instructor role is to help students forge an online persona within the classroom to prevent issues of lack of involvement and attrition. Helping students develop attachments within the online classroom can occur by developing a student's sense of group-based attachment as well as an identity-based attachment (Ren, et al., 2012). The focus of a group-based attachment is on the macro-level, in which students build an attachment to the overarching entity, which in the case of online students, is the university. By developing this attachment, instructors can help students attach themselves to a somewhat removed or abstract identification. This can help the student form a greater sense of responsibility as their attachment is something beyond themselves. Students who are able to develop an identity-based attachment are more likely to be active participants and succeed as they are able to define themselves by their attachment to the group - this is a more microlevel type of attachment. The identity-based attachments focuses on developing personal relationships with group members, in which students attach value to being member of a specific group, such as a participant in online discussion forum.

By developing both group-based and identity-based attachments in students, online instructors can help assuage the sense of isolation many online students feel, given them a greater sense of belonging, and increase the quality and quantity of participation within online discussion forum. To help students form attachments to their respective classrooms online instructors should encourage students to use the universities' various resources, connect students to each other through peer-to-peer learning and/or group assignments, and provide edifying and frequent feedback to both student questions and assignments. 

Thank you,

Eric

Reference:

Ren, Y., Harper, F. M. Drenner, S., Terveen, L., Kiesler, S., Riedl, J., & Kraunt, R. E. (32012). Building member attachment in online communities: Applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds. MIS Quarterly, 23, 841-864

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