Creating a welcoming and inclusive online learning community
Creating a sense of community among students via digital platforms is a vital component of effective online teaching. Here, Miral Gibson explains how fostering this welcoming inclusive online learning environment should be pedagogy-led
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Key Details
This video will cover:
00:57 Facilitating student-to-tutor interaction when teaching online
02:40 Encouraging student-to-content interaction online
03:41 Supporting student-to-student interaction in online classes
Transcript
Hello, I am Miral Gibson, the deputy director of鈥痚ducation at the University of Roehampton business鈥痵chool.鈥
And in this very short video, I'll be鈥痵haring with you how the University of Roehampton鈥痓usiness school transitioned into remote learning鈥痑nd the online world and, in particular, I'll鈥痓e talking about how we try to create an online鈥痩earning community for our students in that new鈥痚nvironment.
Now, just like learning and teaching,鈥痺e really think that building an online community鈥痠s pedagogy-led. So, we have to think carefully鈥痑bout how we're going to manage the relationship鈥痓etween technology and pedagogy.
And we鈥痳eally wanted to hit all of these elements鈥痮f interactions that exist within the learning鈥痚nvironment 鈥 what really make up the learning鈥痗ommunity.
So, we looked at three elements of鈥痠nteractions:
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The student-to-student interaction
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The student-to-tutor interaction and then鈥
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The student-to-content interaction.
Now,鈥痠n terms of the student-to-tutor interaction we鈥痳eally wanted to create an educator's presence鈥痑nd we wanted to make it fun but simple.
So, we鈥痷sed a number of digital apps for recording 鈥 both鈥痸ideo and audio apps. Some of the video tools that鈥痺e've used are like Panopto, Screencast-O-Matic,鈥痺hich I'm using right now.
We used podcast tools鈥痩ike Vocaroo and we really introduced ourselves to鈥痵tudents before they even joined the course.
So,鈥痮ur virtual learning environment was built with鈥痶hat space, where students could go in and see鈥痺ho they'd be interacting with before they even鈥痵tarted.
And that, for us, was really important鈥痓ecause it minimised the levels of uncertainty鈥痶hat could be related or associated with virtual鈥痩earning or even a new way of learning. It also鈥痚stablished the first connections within that鈥痮nline world.
We also wanted to make sure that we鈥痟ad very good visual presence, so we鈥檝e uploaded鈥痯hotos of ourselves and we made these personal and鈥痬ore human.
So, we uploaded photos of us with鈥痮ur friends, with our family, with our pets,鈥痙oing our hobbies. And, in that same space, there鈥痺ere also opportunities for students to upload鈥痶heir own photos and also tell us a bit more about鈥痶hemselves. But also chat with us and speak to us.鈥
So, I'm now just going to share another screen鈥痺ith you. This is an example of our colleague鈥痺ho had a photo of himself and his daughters鈥痑t a Rammstein concert under the 鈥淢eet your module 鈥痶eam鈥 heading in our Moodle, and this is the鈥痩ink where students could chat with Steven.
Now, in terms of the鈥痵tudent-to-content interaction,鈥痺e all had teaching content, so we were鈥痭ot trying to reinvent the wheel. But the鈥痮nly difference is that the interaction with the content online is slightly different,鈥痚specially when it is asynchronously taught.鈥
So, some of the asynchronous material provides鈥痵tudents with the opportunity to access [it]鈥痑nywhere at any time, so we really wanted to鈥痗reate these opportunities whereby students could鈥痵top and reflect and interact with the content.鈥
So, we used a number of audio and video鈥痬aterial, like Youtube links and podcasts,鈥痑nd we embedded in these some polls and quizzes鈥痷sing tools like Kahoot!, Mentimeter and Padlet.鈥
And all these provide different opportunities for鈥痵tudents in asynchronous as well as synchronous鈥痶eaching, so that they can reflect on some of the鈥痥nowledge they gained, and start engaging with鈥痶he material through reflective practice.
And,鈥痜inally, our third element of interaction is the鈥痵tudent-to-student interaction.
And this is where鈥痺e use the number of discussion forums, which is鈥痑bsolutely fantastic because it gives students鈥痶he opportunity to create quality responses,鈥痑nd that makes the connections in the online鈥痩earning environment more meaningful.
Padlet鈥痠s an absolutely fantastic tool as well, where鈥痵tudents could be more creative and upload their鈥痮wn videos, upload their own audio links.
And this鈥痠s how we created an inclusive environment online,鈥痺here everybody could feel safe, and that was鈥痓uilt on trust and respect.
I'm very happy to鈥痶alk about any of these in more detail in the鈥痜uture. Thank you very much for listening.
This video was produced by Miral Gibson, deputy director of education at the .