Enhancing Visibility of Distance Learners To Promote Sense Of Community

Abstract

Communities comprised of students enrolled in distance education differ from traditional students in residential campus sites not only in the separation of distance and time and the invisibility of peers, but also because the majority of the members are adult learners. My research is dedicated to promoting online students' sense of community and collective community efficacy by enhancing the visibility of students' relevant information and connections with others in the online educational setting. Following a user-centered design approach, I am probing the stakeholders' needs and building prototypes grounded in these findings. With iterative evaluations in the field and lab studies, I aim to build and evaluate the impacts of these interactive visualizations on distance students' sense of community.