Building Community through Design

Creating community in a distance classroom begins with course design, and there are many ways you can design your course to build and strengthen classroom community throughout the year. This training establishes best practices for distance course design in fostering community, reviewing strategies such as setting norms and expectations, intentionally embedding community-building activities into the curriculum, and revisiting the "why" behind why community matters so much to students in a distance environment. Additionally, the training includes ideas for stocking your community-building activity bank, making it easier for you to insert these activities regularly without having to reinvent the wheel each time. Finally, you will also learn the benefits of extending classroom community outside of the classroom, engaging with broader networks of educators, families, and community members to positively impact your own practice and professional growth.