Over the past several months I have devoted a significant about of time and space within this forum to the topic of establishing a sense of community in the online classroom environment. Past subjects have included strategies toward developing an online community, engendering rapport within the online classroom, the benefits of community to both faculty and students, peer-to-peer learning strategies, et cetera. The reasoning behind the focus on developing an online community has been my belief that establishing an online community enhances both the learning process and the educational experience. The ability to recreate the positive aspects of a traditional ground-based classroom amalgamated with the benefits of the online setting is crucial toward the success of online students as well as the continuation of education in the online realm - I believe.

Upon reflection, however, I began to wonder if developing a sense of community within the online classroom was a worthwhile endeavor, that is, does it matter to the students or faculty. Several factors might disprove my assertion that online learning communities matter. Online students may be choose the modality as it is the most convenient vehicle to receive a credential that will allow them to move up the organizational hierarchy or become more marketable in the job market. An over emphasis on the social aspects within the online classroom might distract from educational rigor. Online students and faculty alike are always pressed for time, and developing an online community might be low on the priority list. In addition, the limitations communication in the online modality might be prohibitive toward the development of community.

Proving these detractions untrue could certainly be a topic of a future research paper, one I might pursue. Fortunately, there are current academic studies that prove online students desire to establish community within their classrooms, and for reasons of brevity, I will focus on one particular study. Liu, Magjuka, Bonk, and Lee (2011) completed a study that focused on the subject of community within online classrooms, and the findings from the study noted developing a sense of community helps students to share openly, learn from each other, prompts increase participation within discussion forms, nurtures students' ambitions, increases satisfactions, and encourages in depth dialogue. Moreover, when a sense of community develops, students and faculty perceive a decrease in the sense of isolation that often plagues those who function in the online milieu.

Although I have mention only a single study within this post, again for reasons of brevity, many other studies have indicated similar findings. I can therefore conclude, with modicum solace, that blogging about and attempting to integrate methods to develop a sense of community within the online classroom has not been a superfluous endeavor - I hope.

Thanks,

Eric

Liu, X., Magjuka, R. J. Bonk, C. J., & Lee, S. (2007). Does sense of community matter? An examination of the participants'' perception of building communities in online courses. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education 8, 9-24

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