In this general Session, I'll demonstrate how the Learning Design and Technologies (LDT) M.Ed. program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University has increased communication and collaboration between students and faculty by creating a Community of Practice (CoP) using Slack. While research indicates that student anxiety was on the rise prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, that trend was radically exacerbated during the pandemic with students reporting a wide array emotional, social, and financial issues. Because these issues can have a significant, and negative impacts on learning outcomes, Slack was integrated into the LDT M.Ed. program to encourage deeper learning and collaboration, and as a means of monitoring the safety and well-being of our students.

Email is increasing viewed as a cumbersome and inefficient means of communication by students because of the time lag between query and response. In contrast, Slack is used as a synchronous collaboration hub that enables real-time messaging and communication, content sharing, and helps create a sense of belonging among students. Additionally, other tools within Slack permit the development of automated communication and workflows that can be used as a tool for triaging other student needs beyond the scope of the course.

Conference participants will benefit from this presentation by developing a deeper understanding of synchronous communication tools can be used to develop a CoP that increases communication and collaboration, improve learning outcomes, help lower student anxiety, and act as a triage system for advising, services and support for students.

Student interaction and social support improve learning and are increasingly important in what is otherwise isolated online learning. While the technical elements of online education provide a user-friendly environment today, the social aspect needs evaluation and improvement. A learner community offers formal and informal communication; this social space is somewhat abstract, but the factors of common interests and interaction bind the members.

Even though social space in an online environment is different than in traditional classroom settings, social areas can still exist both asynchronously and synchronously. Communication and document-sharing environments such as Slack and Discord are examples. With new technologies, online social spaces are not limited to text-only communication but can include audio, video, document sharing, project team areas, and meeting spaces. Live synchronous seminars or webinars offer a learning community, as do asynchronous discussion boards, and social media groups provide another option.

Part of creating these student communities is developing an ethical and inclusive space where students feel safe. As video becomes more prevalent, respecting students' comfort level is critical. Communication in the environment must respect all learners and allow all members to feel a sense of belonging. Academic integrity also factors into these communities.

This presentation will present ideas for the successful integration of student interaction and social learning into the online learning environment. Whiteboard brainstorming to gather ideas from session participants and online polls will allow participants to share beliefs and feelings about the webinars, discussion boards, use of social media, and ethical issues within online courses.

The presentation will provide faculty and course creators hands-on exercises on how to create engaging discussion questions for online courses. The 12 Principles to Guide Class Discussion will be covered as well as some examples from specific disciplines. Research-backed methodologies will be broken down into easy "how-to" strategies. The audience will have the chance to identify quality discussion questions and provide feedback for examples that need improvement. Furthermore, the audience members will be invited to create a discussion question in their own discipline and allow feedback from their peers. Because discussion questions are meant to be a collaborative experience, the session will focus on doing exactly that: inviting the audience to discuss and collaborate on tactics that will enhance the discussion forum element of their online courses. The presentation will provide clear and easy steps on how to take initial discussion question ideas and enhance them.

dfhzdfbzdbzdfb