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Online doesn’t have to mean less connected. There are a couple tech tools I’ve been using lately that have really helped create community in my online class. Students often mention in my evals that the class felt supportive and welcoming despite being online. These strategies may help rethink assumptions that online has to mean less connected.

Canvas Scheduler makes it easy for students to sign up for meetings or group sessions. Events appear on their To Do list, unlike external tools. For my get-to-know-you meetings, I switched from individual to group sessions and students seem to enjoy connecting with classmates. Scheduler is also great for low-stakes group assignments. Students sign up to meet in small groups without me and submit a collaborative guidelines document for Complete/Incomplete grading.

Remember, asynchronous doesn’t have to mean no real-time opportunities. Just offer flexible times instead of one fixed option. I make sure appointment slots are available throughout the week, including early evening.

Padlet has been my replacement for Flip for a video message board and I think I prefer it. The interface is attractive and, like Flip did, it has a grid layout that fosters a sense of community, even in an async interaction. To stay within a free Padlet account, only three grids can be active at a time, but archiving is easy and reversible. If having limited grids is a challenge, you can mix Padlets with video Canvas discussions and use Padlet when visual community benefits the assignment.

Are there a couple of students struggling in your class? Early Warning is a simple way to partner with Academic Advising and the Office of Academic Success to offer students support for issues such as missing assignments or attendance concerns. A warm, encouraging note from you is a perfect compliment to the process. 

This is a guest block from Autumm

I was super excited recently to be asked to sit on the board of the Civics of Tech project. If you are not familiar with Civics of Tech go check them out. Besides a blog they have book groups, curriculum resources, and monthly Tech Talks.

This past week Civics of Tech's blog reposted Shelly Jarenski's Yes, we need an AI policy for our courses. But developing one is just the beginning. Which was originally posted on the Hub Blog. If you missed it or would even just like to revisit it go check it out

We are happy to meet with you for any teaching concerns, large or small, in any modality, whether it's a one-off meeting or longer-term planning. For issues arising in your classes, PBL, GenAI, or anything else, we're here to help!

Questions or comments? Carla Vecchiola, cvecchio@umich.edu

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay; Teaching, Community and Contact Icons by Icons8