Building Community for Online Doctoral Students via Social Media
General description of the project
Online students benefit from a strong online community outside of their classes. Social media groups on Slack, Discord, and Facebook can contribute to community building. This project examines student community-building via social media with specific emphasis on an online doctoral program at Boise State University that I am part of. The doctoral program is 100% asynchronous online; students are never required to go to campus. Students enter the program in a quasi-cohort, taking the first two required classes together. After the first semester, progression through program depends on each student’s individual path through the remaining requirements. At the outset of the program, students were encouraged to build a community space outside of the Canvas course sites. I created a Slack workspace for my cohort within the first three weeks of the program. The Slack space is active daily and serves as a place of social connection and academic and programmatic help. I also participate in other social media groups for graduate students.
Technologies
Technologies used in the project include Slack, Discord, Facebook, and Instagram. I am an administrator for the Slack space and also participate in groups on Discord, Facebook, and Instagram. All of the groups I am in are geared toward community building and student success and achieve those ends in different ways.
Explain project results
Community-building in general contributes to student success and is especially important for online students. Online communities also help students build relationships with each other and, by extension, the program and institution. Students are more likely to stay in a program when they have vested connections to classmates and/or professors. Though not focused specifically on Hispanic student success, the creation of this group benefits Hispanic students and the institution.
Why it should be considered best practice?
Community-building for online students at any level is vital to student success. It is easy to think that doctoral students, especially online doctoral students, can fend for themselves and do not need outside community support. This is not the case. Encouraging students to build community and then reflect on that community contributes to student success. Institutions and programs benefit from more connected students.
Highlights of your proposed presentation
Description and analysis of a Slack workspace for online doctoral students. Analysis will include initial impressions of the group’s contribution to student success, academic and otherwise.
The Evaluation Committee will evaluate submitted proposals based on the following criteria. Each area will be rated on a scale from 1 to 7 (1= non-satisfactory; 7 =outstanding), for a maximum of 63 points.