Hello, Is Anyone There?: Strategies for Building Relationships in the Online Classroom

Introduction

In 1985, the first online degree program was made available by the National Technological University, according to Forbes.com, and since then, the growth of online training and education has nearly mirrored the success of the Internet (Learn.org, n.d.). Online learning has grown exponentially with each year’s enrollments exceeding the previous year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2023), among postbaccalaureate students in Fall 2020, 2.2 million (or 71 percent) enrolled in at least one distance education course. 1.6 million students (or 52 percent) of total postbaccalaureate enrollment, took online courses exclusively. With the enormous number of enrollments in online undergraduate and graduate degree programs, it is critical that faculty go beyond sharing content knowledge and know how to build relationships with students to create caring connections in the online classroom. Online instructors oftentimes struggle to engage with and build meaningful relationships with students in the virtual environment, and without this critical component in place, online students report a lack of interest, in turn, they produce a lower quality of work and report less overall satisfaction. There are a host of tools and strategies that may be used by the online instructor to build meaningful relationships with students and increase these satisfaction levels (Jeffrey, 2019). It is well known that the online classroom structure can cause students to feel isolated and unsupported. Asynchronous discussion boards and digitally submitted assignments, as well as not seeing the instructor or classmates face to face make for an impersonal learning experience. Knowing how to effectively connect with all students and working to build caring, authentic relationships can improve the online education experience for both the faculty member and the student.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is threaded through the content of this chapter. In particular, Garrison’s CoI framework is known for three elements – social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence – that are deemed critical for fostering a community of actively engaged participants (Garrison et al., 2010). The three elements combined contribute to student engagement, performance, and building community. Social presence (participants’ ability to establish themselves as real/authentic selves in their academic community), cognitive presence (participants’ ability to construct meaning and confirm understanding), and teaching presence (instructor’s ability to design, facilitate, and provide direct instruction) as a trifecta cultivate a community that provides optimal support for student learning. Purposeful community building using the CoI is a critical component of fostering successful student engagement and performance in class.

Existing research about online teaching and learning includes mostly factors related to student success, persistence to degree completion, and student satisfaction (Alison et al., 2020). It is widely understood by stakeholders that online learners need support beyond academic instruction. In addition, instructors who teach online doctoral courses play a vital role in students’ experiences as these students are engaged in the highest level of academic study and require specific types of connection, communication, and support. When students feel connected in the classroom, stronger classroom interactions and discussions often occur and that feeling of connectedness helps retain learners and create classroom community investment. The connections that can occur in a community of practice are incredibly important when considering the implementation of online courses (Blevins et al., 2021). Cultivating trusting relationships by providing students with numerous opportunities for authentic, spontaneous, supportive discussion with people they know well emerged as central to fostering a sense of community among online learners (Cornell et al., 2019). This highlights the importance of building faculty-student relationships.