Hi Stephanie!

I really enjoyed reading your blog post and the connections you made from our readings. In your third paragraph you discuss the research around synchronous and asynchronous environments and how students feel a sense of isolation and lack of community in asynchronous online learning. I too feel that it is hard to build connections with both peers and teachers in any online environment. In our situation for this course and other education related courses, we have the benefit of already knowing some of our peers, which makes the process of getting into groups and communicating with peers somewhat easier. I wonder how the first-year students entering university or elementary/middle school students entering a new year feel and some of the challenges they would face in an online schooling environment. For this paragraph, I wonder if you could elaborate on the two different styles (asynchronous and synchronous) and explain how teachers can effectively build relationships by encouraging safe communication and interactions in each of them.

I liked your connection to Barbara Brown’s suggestion on using FlipGrid as a way to help build connections with students. I agree that when you are able to see and hear someone it makes you feel more connected and personalizes the experience. Do you have any other suggestions on how educators could effectively help students feel comfortable in the online school setting and how they might build connections with peers and the teacher?  After finishing the course readings, I felt that it was clear that social interaction and connections do not have to be lost through online learning, but it will be up to us as educators to ensure that we have effective pedagogical practices in place that will help establish and reinforce those social interactions and connections. It will be interesting to continue online schooling in the fall and see what we learn from our own experiences. I believe this experience will help us tailor our own teaching practices if we are faced with teaching students online during our careers as educators!