1. Fostering Collaboration and Interactivity in a Blended Course

2. Guiding Principles
Community should be part of face-to-face as well as online components of a course
The collaborative activities and products resulting in either environment should be connected (integrated) so the sense of community naturally extends between both environments
Size of class, level of students (e.g., undergrad vs. grad), course discipline will impact choices made for creating communities and developing activities to foster collaboration and communication

3. Building Community
F2F Without Community
Think about the strategies/activities you use in F2F to foster community? What are the benefits of establishing community?
What strategies/activities could be used online to foster community and collaboration among students? (Group Brainstorm)
Online Without Community

4. Communication Tools to Foster Online Community
E-Mail
1-1 and 1-many communication
Announcements; reminders; share files
Discussion Board
1-many threaded communication
Allows time for participant reflection and follow-up
Synchronous Chat
1-1 and 1-many communication
Live, interactive, builds sense of connection
Conversations archived for future reference

• Frequency
• 5. Predictability
• 6. Redundancy