Something I didn’t have in my bet books for 2022 was the fact just about everybody is talking about the importance of community, the holy grail.
There is a lot of speculation why the word community is right now trending in Higher Ed. It coud be that Emergency Remote Teaching left something to be desire in the social department (I would agree!). Or perhaps it is the fact that all of us desire to meet people face to face (F2F) and long to be together after a series of lockdowns which forced all of us to be hermits. Do we desire the campus community, or is there such a thing as an online community?
Does an online community even exist? A lot of teachers at Leiden University complained that during forced Emergency Remote Teaching, students didn’t engage as much as they hoped and to make matters worse, when lockdowns disappaered from our vocabulary and the campus was reopened, the students didn’t return to their classrooms.
Talking to students though, it is clear that they know exactly what is missing:
- A clear guidance what is synchronous and asynchronous, what is online and what is offline?
- A method to create interation during classes
- If there is only knowledge sending (e.a. lecture) to please use methods of flexibility, such as providing material digital.
- What timelines are necessary?
- Where can they find study places, plugs and in general places to use?
- What is allowed and is not allowed among participants.
- How to have fun while being the Queen.
Need teaching about online communities? Please use my elearnings: