Share Paper: Don’t Blame the Virus for the Need to Create a Sense of Belonging in an Online Learning Environment

  1. Debra De Pryck, University of Antwerp, Belgium
  2. Yves Blieck, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
  3. Koen DePryck, LocalGlobal Institute, Belgium
Thursday, April 1 1:00-1:15 PM Room 2

Abstract: While it is tempting to blame ‘the virus’ for many of the arisen issues due to the sudden and massive shift to online and blended learning in education, many issues are not new. COVID-19 merely highlighted some challenges that were already present in education. Fostering social presence is one such challenge. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Garrison et al., 1999) identified social presence as essential to learning and it is also crucial for a sense of belonging. Lacking a sense of belonging is one of the challenges faced by many online learners. We focus on the implementation of frameworks ...