Class community
Building a sense of community among students is crucial for every classroom or course section. In a hybrid model, educators create community through various experiences. Students need to feel connected to one another and to their instructor. Instructors must find a way to bridge the physical distance that separates participants by creating a class community.
Instructors need to be thoughtful about how they foster relationships with students to encourage connection and camaraderie. Educators must consider how they'll create a welcoming virtual learning space and how they'll establish their teacher presence in that space. Students need to see their instructors as "real people." When educators are authentic, students feel connected and safe to share their thoughts and needs. Students connect best with instructors who aren't afraid to show their personalities.
Instructors can begin by posting an introductory video welcoming students to the virtual learning space. Discussion prompts or virtual social activities help students learn more about their instructor and each other. Traditional ice-breaker activities conducted in person will need to be revamped to develop connections with in-person and virtual students. Educators can create social channels for students to get to know each other. Establishing routines and rituals in class gives students something to look forward to and encourages students to participate throughout the course.
According to Resilience and transformation for the future of learning, a crucial component of success in a hybrid environment will be students' comfort level with communicating online and collaborating with peers.
"If distance and hybrid learning are to succeed in future iterations, students will need both more experience communicating online, and small group, emotionally safe opportunities to communicate and collaborate with peers and teachers in real time, e.g. through posts, team chats or live meetings." (11)
The more students practice communicating in the virtual classroom, the more comfortable they'll be. Start with low-stakes collaborative activities in which students establish group norms and learn how to work together. These activities are a powerful way to ease students into larger group projects where each student has a defined role and they're each dependent on one another to complete the task.
As collaborators in a virtual environment, students need to practice cyber safety and follow digital citizenship rules. Instructors can either establish the rules for online courtesies, or they can take students through the group norming process to create guidelines. Once established, the digital citizenship principles must be made clear, always restated, and never forgotten. Students need to understand that their purpose is always to protect themselves, to be considerate to others, and to be respectful of others' ideas and work.
Connection matters in more ways than one in a hybrid learning environment. A sense of community plays an essential role in learning. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky's seminal research noted that "learning awakens a variety of internal development processes that are able to operate only when the [student] is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers" (Darby 78). Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development emphasizes that student-to-student interaction helps create new learning; students must work with each other to learn and succeed in a hybrid environment. Students need both their instructor and their peers to learn.
To create a strong community, student well-being must be at the forefront of hybrid environments. Research proves, that emotion is the entry point to motivation, cognition, and attention. Establishing protocols and procedures for checking on students, evaluating their needs, and identifying when instructors can help is paramount. For younger students, a parent or guardian survey reveals students' needs and how much adult guidance and support students will have when they work remotely. For older students, a student survey reveals demands outside of school and other pressures that may interfere with student success in class. Instructors who show students they care and who genuinely work to help students in need will have motivated and engaged students.