OLTD 503

Seminar 4: Building Virtual Communities

February 1-7, 2019

Facilitators:

Melissa Mullis
Email: ​melissa.mullis@gsuite.viu.ca
Text: 778-677-7906

Thai Nguyen
Email: ​thai.nguyen@gsuite.viu.ca

Wendy Preston
Email: ​wendy.preston@gsuite.viu.ca

OLTD 503 Outcomes:

● Understand how to build rapport and manage groups.
● Engage in building learning communities and communities of practice.
● Examine current research around best practices and emerging practices.

Seminar 4 Outcomes
● Examine the usefulness of icebreakers in building online communities.
● Debate the role of social media as a tool for building online communities.
● Review current research and discuss how to build a strategy for building a cohesive and
vibrant online community

Seminar Activities:
Activity Description Suggested Due Date
Time

Zoom Session 1 hour Saturday,

● Zoom link:​ ​https://zoom.us/j/959851646 February 2
9:30 - 10:30 am

Activity #2: Icebreaker Mind Map (Coggle) 30 minutes ongoing

Optional Extra on G+

Activity #3:Debate - ​Is Social Media an Isolating 1 hour ongoing

technology or one that connects and builds
community? Debate using evidence from your
personal experience and teaching practice.
 Activity #4: Philosophy for Building Online 3 hours Wednesday/
Community Thursday

Seminar 4 Course Evaluation Survey 10 minutes Thursday

Required Resources:

Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (2013).Lessons from the Virtual Classroom :The Realities of
Online Teaching​. San Francisco, CA; John Wiley & Sons Inc. pp 125-126 and 142-154.
(Available as an e-book from the VIU library.)

Additional Recommended Resources:

O’Malley, S. (2017). Professors share ideas for building community in online courses.
Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/07/26/ideas-building-online-
community

Pacansky-Brock, M. How to humanize your online classes. Retrieved from

https://brocansky.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Humanize-Infog-Letter-Size-for-Print
ing.pdf

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2013). Student voices: what makes an online class feel more
human? Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=255xC5js8G4&index=43&list=PLxmp2OnJJbw5rScS
eMx6Dos0bbgrvUd4Q

Talbert, R. (2015). How student video presentations can build community in an online
course. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/how-student-video-presentations-can-bui
ld-community-in-an-online-course/57435

Lowenthal, P.R. & Dunlap, J.C. (2010). From pixel on a screen to real person in your
students’ lives: Establishing social presence using digital storytelling. Internet and
Higher Education (13), p. 70-72.
Available through VIU library.