The document discusses the importance of socializing and creating a sense of community in online courses. It emphasizes that the initial socializing activities are crucial to set the right tone for the course. Suggested activities should be interactive, fun, and help students get to know each other on a personal level to build trust and a sense of belonging within the group. The role of the tutor is also important in facilitating these social interactions, organizing tasks and discussions, and acting as a guide and moderator to create a conducive learning environment throughout the course.

1. TOPIC 1
STARTING OFF ONLINE
CREATING A GOOD SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ONLINE
Ronda Haverland & David Kendall Clapp

2. THE
IMPORTANCE ON
SOCIALISING IN
ONLINE
COURSES

3. A LEARNING COMMUNITY IS…..
“a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in
purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct
meaning and confirm mutual understanding.” (Garrison,
2007)

4. SOCIAL PRESENCE IS….
the ability of participants to identify with the
group, communicate in a trusting environment,
and develop social relationships by way of
expressing their individuality (Wilcoxon 2011).

5. As in f2f courses it’s important to start the course with a
couple of get to know you activities. Because of the
distance and the fact that collaboration is a core part of
an online course, the initial socializing activities are crucial
in setting the tone of the course.
If the course gets off on the wrong foot it would be
difficult to try to re-establish a comfortable environment.
Then it might be in danger of the participants losing
interest. Once the course has moved on to more
collaborative tasks participants might not feel a sense of
belonging to the group.

6. Activities should be:
neutral
easy interesting
creative
interactive fun (maybe even silly)
open personal (but not too personal)
something for everyone friendly lighthearted

7. Activities should create:
an interesting atmosphere
a sense of belonging to the group
personal connections
trust

8. Without a clearly defined socialising phase within the environment, no
group dynamic or sense of belonging will emerge, and all those fancy
tools may remain unused. And unless tasks are specifically designed to
encourage participants to interact, communication may not
spontaneously emerge……The whole point of creating a sense of
community is to be able to draw on this collective sense of belonging
during the learning process. In other words, to encourage collaborative
work in which effective learning will take place through the
collaboration (Hockly 2004).
Perhaps the most important point about introducing online
collaborative group work is that participants cannot be thrown in cold.
Careful socialising of the group, through a building of group identity and
shared responsibility and trust must be built up through less complex
task types before full-scale project work is attempted. Only then is it
possible that not just response but responsibility will emerge in group
work (Hockly 2004).

9. ONLINE SOCIALISING TASKS AND TOOLS
Question-of-the-day (JOY)
Tools: email
Procedure:
Ask each SD to think of three things that he or she would like to share. Use
the letters of the word “joy” to structure what is to be shared. i.e.
J: something in your life that just happened
O: one thing you would like to do fo9r yourself
Y: a part of you that makes you a special person
*Note: The best questions are those relevant to the participants´ interests and cultures

10. Self introduction (Glogging)
Tools: Video, audio, images
http://www.glogster.com/
Use different technologies to introduce yourself
Interview Circle
Collaborative discussion threaded discussion
Tools: Synchronous chat/ discussion/ jigsaw
Small or large groups
Explain that we will interview one SD who will sit in the main spot
light and answer one question from each participant. He or she has
the right to “pass” on any questions that he or she chooses not to
answer

11. Our World is Changing
Share information/ brainstorm
Open forum
Tools: Wiki/ Blogs
SD 2 SD
Post a discussion question on the main window, and each SD is to take
turns responding to the question.
Divide your SDS into groups of 2 or 3. Have each group brainstorm and
write lists of how the world has changed since their parents (or
grandparents) were born. Give each group a designated time to
brainstorm. Have the community meet. Have each group one or two
changes that have made an impact on their lives.

12. Watch video and comment
Group research
Tools: Youtube
*Select video according to SDS interests and needs
SD 2 SD
Face 2 face discussion
Live conversation
Tools: Skype, video conference
T 2 SD
SD 2 SD

13. Written/ visual communication
Tools: facebook
SD 2 SD
T 2 SD

14. manager
designer
guide
monitor
host
role
THE ROLE OF model
conversationalist
THE TUTOR IN
ONLINE
SOCIALISING
moderator
instructional
engineer organizer
elicitor adviser
chairperson facilitator
weaver

15. Like a ring master leads a circus, a tutor or e-moderator runs an online course.
From the minute the first student logs in until the platform closes; the e-
moderator performs a variety of roles throughout the evolution of a course.
The course starts with some social orientation, where the tutor establishes a
friendly, encouraging presence inviting participants to get to know each
other. At the same time the tutor sets the tone by establishing guidelines and
modeling appropriate behaviour. This moves on to organising tasks and
facilitating movement in the right direction with discussions or activities,
while the whole time making sure that everyone is feeling comfortable,
involved and on task. As students’ input begins to flow the tutor reacts to it or
even extends it to give further insight. The tutor may even weave the
discussion in order to ease understanding and move toward solutions;
providing a concise summary as activities come to a conclusion.
The tutor is ever present by encouraging participation or putting out fires if
need be; all done with full purpose of creating a conducive learning
community. A circus without a ring master is just a bunch of lame animals and
sad clowns under a colourful tent. Likewise, without the presence of a tutor,
an online course could be just a bunch of pdf files hanging in an idle platform
on the world wide web.

16. References
Hockley, Nicky; “Activities for online courses: The Beginning”
,www.emoderationskills.com ; 26, Jan. 2010
Hockly, Nicky;“Working together in Virtual Darkness”;the Guardian
Weekly; 25, June 2004
Wilcoxon, Kevin; “Building an Online Learning Community”;
www.Learningsolutinosmag.com; 3, Oct. 2011
Roundtree, Derek; “The tutor's role in teaching via computer
conferencing”; British Journal of Educational Technology; Sept. 1995