Category: digital participatory belonging

This chapter overviews belonging strategies that can be implemented as means of humanizing online learning, which is the focus of the broader collection in which the chapter is situated. Its premise is grounded in the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework and specifically the idea of social presence in online spaces, as an intentional and meaningful…

The study examines the relationship between social location, role identity, social connectedness, and academic perseverance among nontraditional adult learners enrolled in online programs. The survey results show that while participants are confident in their ability to navigate school and competing priorities, they recognize the value of peer connections in supporting better academic outcomes. As perceptions…

The study investigates students’ understanding and definition of “learning community” during the COVID-19 pandemic’s emergency pivot to online teaching. The qualitative analysis of students’ responses generated three dominant themes: “Feeling connected: Bridging the gap whilst physically distanced”, “Feeling included: Visible and valued”, and “Feeling together: Mutuality and the shared experience”. These themes suggest that students…

The study discusses the importance of creating a sense of belonging for LGBTIQ+ individuals in higher education. It presents an autoethnographic study of the author’s 12-year experience in developing the Ally Program, a university-wide, extracurricular online training program aimed at fostering connection and belonging for LGBTIQ+ students and staff. The study uses borderlands discourse as…

The study examined the relationships between online teaching practices and undergraduate STEM students’ feelings of belonging and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys revealed that interactive synchronous instruction was positively associated with feelings of interest and belonging, particularly for students of color. In contrast, non-interactive instruction reduced social belonging but was related to more cognitive…

The article explores various teaching practices that can help foster a sense of community and engagement in emergency remote teaching (ERT) using the Zoom video conferencing platform. Guided by social constructivism theory and the community of inquiry (CoI) model, the authors present several strategies aligned with constructivism and the CoI framework to create meaningful interactions…

The study explores higher education students’ sense of agency and autonomy in the context of the digital participatory culture of the web, applied to their formal learning practices. The research found that although students were proficient web users, they did not exercise learner agency beyond what they assumed was expected of them. This is framed…

The summary highlights the importance of writing in promoting engagement and community in online courses for adult learners. It emphasizes that writing is the primary means of interaction in online education, and thus, instructors should design various writing activities to foster a positive and engaging classroom experience. It provides practical examples of engaged writing assignments,…

This exploratory study aimed to understand whether the use of Twitter impacted students’ sense of belonging to a community of learners. Analysis of the students’ blog and tweet postings revealed five main themes: field experience, emotions, cooperating teacher, class, and relationships. The intended recipients of the postings were also categorized as aimed at other students,…

This paper posits that a sense of belonging is integral to an online community of learners. It overviews how an online teacher education program can facilitate social presence, nurture belonging, and support equitable access and participation, particularly among learner groups excluded from on-campus belonging and programming. This qualitative case study indicate the power that digital…