Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform

Lindsey Link, Stephanie Conine, Catherine Vaughn | Published: February 18th, 2022 by K20 Center

Essential Questions

How do you foster a classroom community in a virtual classroom?

Learning Goals

  • Participants explore research regarding the importance of building community as it pertains to learning.

  • Participants analyze interactive strategies to determine their potential effectiveness in addressing challenges to building a classroom community in a virtual environment.

Materials List

  • Computer, tablet, or personal device

  • Internet or WiFi

  • Best Practices: Blended Learning—Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform (attached; 1 per participant)

  • Best Practices: Interaction in Online Classrooms—Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform (attached; 1 per participant)

  • Instructional Strategy Note Sheet—Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform (attached; 1 per participant)

  • T-Chart- Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform (attached; 1 per participant, or use Googledoc)

  • Presentation Slides—Fostering a Classroom Community in a Virtual Platform (attached)

Engage

Begin by having the title slide displayed. Introduce yourself and welcome your participants.

Display the appropriate slide to review your grant goals with participants (slides 3-5).

  • GEAR UP for the FUTURE (slide 3)

  • GEAR UP OKC (slide 4)

  • GEAR UP for MY SUCCESS (slide 5)

Display slide 6. Begin with the Icebreaker activity with participants in order to get to know each other a little bit better. Instruct them to find the three dots next to their image and select "Rename." Have them rename themselves with their first name and school district. Take a moment to point out the example: Stephanie, Norman PS.

Make sure to welcome participants as they are renaming themselves.

Next, using the chat function, instruct participants to choose an animal that best represents them as an educator. Encourage them to explain why they chose that animal. Make sure to give shout-outs regarding responses. Let participants know that you enjoyed their responses and hope that through the remainder of this session you can get to know each other a bit more during the collaboration time.

Transition Phrase: "Now that we have had the opportunity to get to know each other, we will dive into our next activity and engage in a collaborative discussion."

Display slide 7. Inform participants that for the next activity, you will be modeling Social Presence, which is one of our main topics of discussion today. This activity includes using Padlet, a virtual collaboration tool. Ask participants to use the reactions tool in Zoom and give you a thumbs up if they have used Padlet before.

Point out the QR code and TinyURL on slide 7. Instruct participants to access the Padlet activity that you have set up. Take a moment to drop the complete URL into the chat for participants to access the activity this way as well.

Make sure to put participants at ease if they are not able to access Padlet comfortably due to internet access, device capability, etc. Inform them that they can just play along and participate in whatever way they can. Everyone will still benefit from the discussion/experiences of other participants, and they may use the chat feature to submit their responses.

Display the Padlet screen where participants will be posting.

Once participants have access to Padlet, instruct them to click the "+" button to create their posts using the following K20 Learn Strategy "How am I feeling? What am I thinking?" on the following question: Are you currently teaching or working in a virtual or blended environment?

Ask them to add their name to their post. Ask them to take time to read other responses and reflect on what others have to say when they have posted their own response. Some participants may experience the same challenges and successes. Take a moment to talk about creating a virtual collaborative and interactive environment through Social Presence. Respond to some of the participant comments.

Transition Phrase: "Thank you for your comments. I hope that Padlet enabled you to actively visualize this collaborative tool. Let's begin reviewing and discussing a "Community of Inquiry."

Display slide 8. Inform participants that the session is meant to be a collaborative one. They should feel free to engage and take chances of sharing out. Remind them that they are all in the session to learn from one another. Review the Essential Question.

Transition Phrase: "Isn't this the question of the day? This topic is on the minds of many educators today given that more of us are switching to a virtual environment."

Display slide 9. Inform participants that the Learning Objectives support answering the Essential Question. Introduce the idea that they are going to explore research regarding the importance of building community. Review the Learning Objectives.

Transition Phrase: "We are going to look at the challenges faced when building a Community of Inquiry (CoI) in a virtual space. We will explore and analyze what strategies can be used to support building that CoI."

Explore

Display slide 10. Inform participants that you are going to explore the three Presences that make up a CoI. Participants may know a lot or a little about these. Research supports that these three Presences are what make up an effective virtual classroom.

Transition Phrase: "The Presences are Cognitive Presence, Teaching Presence, Social Presence."

Display slide 11. Inform participants that you are going to take this information and access their prior knowledge. They will participate in a modified version of a strategy called Honeycomb Harvest. Over the next few slides, there will be statements related to one of the three Presences of Community of Inquiry (Cognitive, Teaching, or Social). After reading each statement, the participants will decide which Presence is being represented. They will read the statement, and based on their choice, have them place a 1 for Cognitive Presence, 2 for Teaching Presence, or a 3 for Social Presence in the Chat function.

Transition Phrase: "If you have paper and a pen handy, number 1 to 5. Jot down the answer that you put for each of these statements. We are going to come back to it later for reference. Please note that there is more than one correct answer."

  • Participants are kept on task and engaged in productive dialogue. (Slide 12)

  • I feel comfortable disagreeing with course participants while still maintaining a sense of trust. (Slide 13)

  • It is clear how to participate in learning activities. Timeframes and due dates are communicated. (Slide 14)

  • Combining new information helps me answer questions raised in course activities. (Slide 15)

  • I feel as if my point of view is acknowledged by other course participants. (Slide 16)

  • I feel encouraged to explore new concepts. (Slide 17)

Transition Phrase: "Let's take a deeper look into these three Presences we just explored."

Explain

Display slide 18. Inform participants that you want to take a couple of minutes and talk about research. Say, "I know you are probably thrilled to hear that. We won't spend a long time talking about the specifics of it, but it is important that what we do in our classrooms is backed by research." Share with them that many of these ideas and research came from the book E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice by D. Randy Garrison.

The framework that is displayed on this slide is the theoretical backbone of a lot of e-learning. A Community of Inquiry framework was formed around three main ideas, and then is broken into three different Presences. These ideas are:

  1. The experience of living alongside students in a classroom

  2. The concept of developing a community of learners

  3. The idea that interaction alone does not develop engaged students

These ideas are encapsulated within the Presences and how those Presences interact together creates a Community of Inquiry (CoI).

Transition Phrase: "Where the three Presences intersect, we get the educational experience that students have in classrooms."

Display slide 19. Inform participants that these three Presences are interdependent (thus the representation by a Venn diagram).

The following three transitions will display a basic definition of each Presence on the slide:

  • Transition 1: Social Presence is the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g. course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop interpersonal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities. According to Garrison, one of the biggest shortcomings of traditional distance learning is the implicit denial of community. There can be that sense of community in a virtual environment.

  • Transition 2: Cognitive Presence is the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse. This includes encouraging students to have substantive conversations leading to deeper understanding. Additionally, this is the context of critical thinking and scientific inquiry.

  • Transition 3: Teaching Presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes. The teacher and the learner are not in separate roles. Sometimes the student assumes the role of the teacher. These aren't fixed states.

Transition Phrase: "This was a brief explanation of the three Presences, but today we really want to focus on Social Presence."

Display slide 20. Share with the group the official definition of Social Presence, according to Garrison.

Transition once the definition has been shared.

Display slide 21. Share that the main topic and focus today includes Social Presence:

"What is Social Presence? Social Presence is the master conductor that synchronizes the instructor, students, norms, academic content, instructional strategies, and outcomes within a learning experience. The more students develop their social presence and improve engagement, the greater control they have over their own learning."

Share with participants that there are three aspects of Social Presence you would like to share with them today.

  1. First is an Affective experience: This includes taking the opportunity to express emotion. We can do this through the use of humor, which conveys goodwill. Strategies include the use of emojis, using the rename feature, or changing virtual backgrounds to foster emotional connections or climate. The greater the connection, the more we encourage an environment of trust in terms of academic discourse.

  2. The second aspect is Cohesive experience: Cohesive communication begins with Social Presence and simple behavior such as addressing others by name. Taking it a step further, using inclusive pronouns such as "we" and "our" fosters a cohesive group environment and Community of Inquiry, resulting in meaningful collaboration.

  3. Lastly, an Interactive experience: Keeping learners involved sparks interest and a desire to participate. This refers to learners who compliment or agree with other learners, disagree with other learners, and/or ask questions of other learners and/or the teacher. It is not easy for students to engage in critical discourse, but creating a Community of Inquiry based on a strong Social Presence will cultivate a collaborative environment over time.

Transition Phrase: "Previously, we asked you to activate prior knowledge and answer questions regarding a Community of Inquiry. Let's look at those questions again."

Display slide 22. Inform participants that for this next activity, they are going to complete another modified Honeycomb Harvest. Based on the discussions of creating a Community of Inquiry through Social Presence, participants may want to re-evaluate their previous answers.

The next few slides will have statements related to one of the Presences in the Community of Inquiry. In the same way as the earlier activity, participants will place a 1 for Cognitive Presence, 2 for Teaching Presence, or a 3 for Social Presence in the chat function. Say, "As we review the statements, we will be asking for some audience participation, so please be ready to share out."

Transition Phrase: "You may want to refer to the answers you noted for our first Honeycomb Harvest activity."

Display slide 23. Participants are kept on task and engage in productive dialogue.

Possible guiding questions to ask (encourage participants to unmute their microphone when sharing):

  • Did any of you change your answer from our previous Honeycomb Harvest? You may use the thumbs up or heart feature to indicate that you did change your mind.

  • What strategies do you use to keep students on task and engaged in dialogue?

Display slide 24. I feel comfortable disagreeing with course participants while still maintaining a sense of trust.

Display slide 25. It is clear how to participate in learning activities, and timeframes and due dates are communicated.

Possible guiding questions to ask (encourage participants to unmute their microphone when sharing):

  • Did any of you change your answer from our previous Honeycomb Harvest? You may use the thumbs up or heart feature to indicate that you did change your mind.

  • What strategies do you use to clearly communicate directions with students?

Display slide 26. Combining new information helps me answer questions raised in course activities.

Possible guiding questions to ask (encourage participants to unmute their microphone when sharing):

  • Did any of you change your answer from our previous Honeycomb Harvest? You may use the thumbs up or heart feature to indicate that you did change your mind.

Display slide 27. I feel as if my point of view is acknowledged by other course participants.

Possible guiding questions to ask (encourage participants to unmute their microphone when sharing):

  • Did any of you change your answer from our previous Honeycomb Harvest? You may use the thumbs up or heart feature to indicate that you did change your mind.

  • What are some strategies we can use virtually to foster a safe space for students to share their point of view?

  • Allowing students to feel validated in their thinking and cognitive processes reaffirms their connection with their peers and Social Presence. How can we ensure that they ultimately want to participate in the process?

Display slide 28. I feel encouraged to explore new concepts.

Possible guiding questions to ask (encourage participants to unmute their microphone when sharing):

  • Did any of you change your answer from our previous Honeycomb Harvest? You may use the thumbs up or heart feature to indicate that you did change your mind.

  • What is the importance of encouraging students to explore new concepts, and how much is this based on accessing prior knowledge so that educators can scaffold new information?

Transition Phrase: "Reflect and consider if your response changed from the previous Honeycomb Harvest and explain why."

Display slide 29. Inform participants that you will now be doing a modified virtual version of the Four Corners strategy using the Zoom Poll feature. Thinking about what you discussed regarding the Social Presence. Instruct participants to pick one of the pictures that they think best represents "Social Presence." Say, "Using the poll that we created, please respond with your choice of picture by choosing the number that matches the picture you chose."

Once all of the participants have selected a response, show the poll results and discuss those as a group. Ask, "Is there anyone who would be willing to share why they chose 1, 2, 3, or 4?"

Transition Phrase: "So just like we had a variety of answers, the way we go about creating a Social Presence in a virtual environment can vary greatly depending on the needs of students."

Extend

Display slide 30. Inform participants that you want to address real needs that they face regarding establishing a community in a virtual space. Ask participants the question: What are some of the barriers that you are facing with regard to Social Presence while establishing a Community of Inquiry?

Using a collaborative Google Doc, participants will complete the left side of a T-Chart. Let them know that they will address the right side at a later time. Share the link with participants and instruct them to open this on their computer. You should also share it on the screen for them.

Invite participants to open the document and type on the left side any barriers they feel that they face when establishing a Social Presence.

Make sure to check in with participants and see that they were all able to open the Google Doc. Have them give you a thumbs up in the reactions if it worked. If they can't open the document, it's okay. Instruct them to post some of the barriers they face in the chat, and you can put them into the T-Chart for them.

Transition Phrase: "Now that we have listed some barriers, let's discuss some solutions."

Display slide 31. Share with participants that, as educators, often our biggest resources are the people or other educators around us. Remind participants that this session is filled with people who have a wealth of knowledge that they want to draw from today. Ask them, now that they have identified barriers, what are some solutions that they can identify? Instruct participants to look at the Barriers column and think about strategies or solutions to remove that barrier.

Instruct them to go back to the document that they were just on and contribute some solutions that they have found work for them. Again, if they can't access that document, instruct them to use the chat to let you know the barrier and solution they are thinking about. Then you can type it in the document for them.

Ask the audience to raise their hand and share a solution that they gave and explain. Take the time to discuss the barriers and solutions provided.

Transition Phrase: "If we had more time, we could discuss this longer. There were many great solutions given here!"

Evaluate

Display slide 32. Say, "If you have any questions, please use Zoom's reaction feature to raise your hand and unmute your mic to ask your question."

Transition Phrase: "We may not have all the answers, but I hope that we can assist each other any way that we can. If there are no more questions, let's move on to our last activity."

Display slide 33. Announce to participants that you will be wrapping up the discussion regarding the Social Presence. You will complete the last collaborative activity in Padlet and reflecting on the information that has been shared. Take a moment to drop the complete URL into the chat for participants to access this way as well.

Display the Padlet screen where participants will be posting.

Once participants have access to Padlet, instruct them to click the "+" button to create their post on the following question: How does Social Presence in a virtual platform contribute to fostering a classroom community?

Ask them to add their name to their post. Once they have posted their response, instruct them to take time to read others and reflect on some of the responses (foster discussion as people are posting).

Transition phrase: "Thank you for your responses in Padlet. Our session is finished for today."

Research Rationale

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is a social constructivist model of learning in online and blended environments (Garrison et al., 2000). The CoI framework is divided into three equally important Presences: Teaching, Cognitive, and Social. When designing a blended learning program, teachers must remain conscious of the learning community's social dynamics. Any change in the learning environment, however small, can alter the social dynamics of a learning community. According to Salmon (2013), the importance of relationships among students is paramount to the success of blended learning programs. GEAR UP is positioned to support students beyond the classroom, which takes on the format of a virtual setting. Effective student relationships can take shape in a variety of ways: trust building; intentional social interactions in both face-to-face and online settings; established support measures among teachers and students; embedded support mechanisms which help students clarify, receive feedback, or ask questions; along with opportunities to work in pairs and small groups.

Resources