Creating Community and Student Engagement beyond the Online Discussion Board

A sense of community and student engagement are factors that contribute to students having a positive learning experience. Achieving both of these elements in the classroom is challenging but even more so in a virtual classroom setting. Online instructors usually resort to the old standby – discussion board – as a tool to foster community and student engagement. However, the effectiveness of discussion boards is limited in asynchronous online courses. In this symposium, we present four different activities that complement discussion boards by stimulating critical thinking, teamwork, and interaction between students.