Team and community building online: Using technology to enhance the student experience

Abstract

With the ongoing move toward blended and team-based learning in post secondary education, there is a need for greater understanding of how to support virtual teams in their work and as they build learning communities online. This paper outlines a study that examined the student experience in an online module which used various virtual collaboration tools to facilitate effective collaboration in team-based course activities and foster the development of a learning community. Likert scale and open-ended questions were used to collect students’ perceptions of their experience in the online module. In addition, team reflections on the use of assigned virtual collaboration tools were analyzed. While positive comments were received about activities that gave participants the ability to connect with each other in real time and asynchronously, it was clear that anonymous participation in module activities was not highly valued.