While building strong connections with your learners comes more naturally, fostering genuine relationships between students requires intentionality. Long gone are the days where learners enroll in a course to consume information. When sharing how she pivoted her career to become a web developer, Dominique Maack, alumni of Lambda School, mentioned how Lambda thought through the implications of not having a sense of community. So they built it into their programming. Likewise, our Reshaping Education Podcast co-host Will Mannon has stressed the importance of creating memorable student experiences beyond the classroom. Yes, student experience can make or break your online course. Still, as cohort-based course creators, you are uniquely positioned to facilitate connections and discussions that support learning within your program. Since learners progress through the program together, there are many ways that you can strengthen the bonds in your community. Here are five ways to foster genuine relationships between your students.
One way to encourage students to get to know one another is by sharing community news and highlighting learner accomplishments throughout your program. During live calls, invite students to share updates -- what are they proud about accomplishing, and how are they looking to collaborate with other members? Learners want to be seen, so make space for them to feel supported by their peers. For shy learners, ask them to reach out to you offline and share their updates on the next call.
A directory offers an organized way for learners to learn about their peers and connect. When onboarding learners, ask them to complete their profiles or fill out a questionnaire that captures the essential information their peers may want to know. Throughout the program, encourage students to browse through the directory and make introductions.
Beyond learning, carve out time to host social events to deepen connections and have fun. Throughout your program, host coffee chats, happy hours, and networking sessions so learners can unwind and get to know one another. Start things off with fun icebreakers, like what’s your favorite emoji and why?
If you’re using Zoom for video conferencing, there are a lot of features you can use to spice up your virtual experience, including breakout rooms for hosting smaller groups, enabled chat, and emoji reactions like thumbs up or clapping. Throughout live events, prompt learners to use the reactions and lead by example.
Tools like Donut can help you host virtual coffee chats, masterminds and take watercooler conversations virtually. Features like prompts can encourage sharing and friendly debates. For example, share a childhood photo or share your favorite pasta noodle. Choose from pre-made templates like learning and remote work to get the conversation started. Gatheround is another tool that can help you effortlessly build community and create engaging gatherings like ‘hallway conversations’ and ‘your month in review.’
Lastly, accountability calls are not only a great way to set your students up for success, but it keeps them engaged and encourages them to intentionally meet outside of class to connect, support one another, and collaborate.
How are you fostering genuine relationships within your online learning program? Tweet us at @tryvirtually and let us know!
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Danielle Desir is an author, freelance writer and the host of The Thought Card, an affordable-travel and personal finance podcast. (danielledesir.com) Follow on Twitter: @thethoughtcard