Such creative ideas! I love that this highlights that many of the things we care about in our classrooms may not be directly linked to learning outcomes... but that doesn't lessen their value in the online environment. I think the key is to know why you are doing something and then to examine the metrics to let you know if you are meeting your objectives. In this case, many of the intended outcomes may be more psychosocial or attitudinal (which indirectly support learning via motivation, persistence, and other engagement factors). But, rather than trying to measure the indirect effect on learning, it can be more informative to examine metrics that align with the non-graded variables... so, you may look at rate of discussion board participation, willingness to ask questions when barriers arise, EOC scores, and similar measures of connection. Or, you could even take a more qualitative approach and ask students directly for feedback on how these community building activities have impacted their learning experience. 

I really enjoyed this presentation.  It's always helpful to see what others are doing within HALO and how we can improve our current teaching skills.  Thanks for sharing!