6 ways to build community in online classes

Building a supportive, positive classroom community is vital in any class. In an online class setting, community building isn’t always easy. Some of Mission Bit’s experienced remote instructors shared their advice for building community in online classes.

Use small groups

Speaking up in front of the whole class can cause anxiety, especially in virtual settings. Use small groups to give students a chance to get to know each other.

Most video call platforms have features such as breakout rooms that let you send participants into small groups. Emil De Guzman, the lead instructor for Mission Bit’s remote Web Design class, says, “Breakout rooms were so so so important for our community builders… It helps alleviate some of the pressure of talking in a big group.”

While students are in small groups, instructors can join the group to monitor their progress or participate in their conversation.

Set norms together

In remote classes, setting norms collaboratively establishes a strong foundation for the structure and culture of the space. Everyone—both students and teachers—is coming into the class with different experiences, and everyone has different ideas of what’s expected of them and others in a remote class. You increase student buy-in to follow the norms by involving students in the norm-setting process. This process shifts our frame of mind—it’s not “the teacher’s class,” it’s “our class.”

Play games

Games are a great way to give students a break from academics and get to know one another in a low-stakes way.

There are several games online that take minimal setup. Kimon Monokandilos has been a TA for several remote Mission Bit classes, and he recommends online games such as skribbl.io, MakeItMeme, and Wordle or Connections from the New York Times.

If you have more time, you can do more involved activities. Kaitlyn Wong, the TA for Mission Bit’s remote Web Design class, used a game called “Slide Updates” with her class. “[Everyone] gets their own blank slide and you basically fill it up with pictures about things happening in your life recently, memes, pictures you find funny,” she explained. “Slide Updates allow students to share things they’ve been doing outside of class in the present, and I think students usually have fun collecting pictures to add and presenting their own slides.”

Don’t underestimate the chat

Many students may be more comfortable participating in the chat than by unmuting. Lean into this—the chat is a great way to build community in class.

“The chat plays a big part in community-building in the virtual classroom since it’s one of the modes of communication students usually feel the most comfortable using,” explains Jennifer Chang, the lead instructor for Mission Bit’s remote Python class. “We often used the chat to facilitate conversation and community in various ways, such as asking students to drop a specific emoji in the chat based on how they were feeling.”

Kaitlyn recommends using the “waterfall method” for chat responses. When posing a question to the class, give students a minute or so to type their responses, and tell them to wait until you say to hit send. “I noticed more students would interact/respond that way,” she says. “It can be nerve-wracking to be the first person to respond in chat, so having a countdown for everyone to respond at once made it feel less like one person is being put on the spot.”

When a student shares something in the chat—a question, a joke, an observation—make sure it doesn’t go unnoticed. Respond to the student out loud, type a response, or use an emoji to react to the message. If you have a TA in the class, this is a great role for them.

Foster collaboration

Collaboration in online classes may look a little different than in in-person classes, but group assignments are still an excellent way of both building community and helping students learn the material.

Jennifer uses small groups to promote collaboration in her classes: “Usually, one student would share their screen, and the group would talk and work together. Instructors would also rotate through the groups and check in on all individuals to see if they had any questions.”

Collaboration doesn’t have to be strictly academic. Use collaborative games, such as a group scavenger hunt, to have fun and practice groupwork skills. Students can also reflect collaboratively. In Jennifer’s class, they made use of Zoom’s whiteboard feature. “My artistic teaching assistant would draw a huge rose with many petals on the whiteboard. The students would write their ‘rose,’ something positive that happened for them in class that day, on one of the petals. Students really enjoyed drawing on the whiteboard together!”

Have fun!

Class community is a collective construction, but as a leader in the space, you help to set the tone. Have fun with the class and be enthusiastic. Emil recommends having casual conversations with students: “The fun with students came from all the little things. I try to engage the students with questions about their weekend, what they are for lunch, just trying to get them to share and talk outside of the programming talk.” Kimon encourages teachers to get to know their students by “asking them questions about things they find funny or interesting, for example, we got thoroughly educated in ‘brainrot’ by one of our students this last semester.”

Grow with us

At Mission Bit, we want every student to feel like they belong in the STEM community. We put community-building at the heart of our classes.

Are you interested in helping us foster this community? Check out ways to get involved!