Exploring the Influence of Instructor Actions on Community Development in Online Settings

Abstract

This chapter presents an exploration of the community experience in online settings where the development of a learning community was a key instructional aim. The inquiry used the Learning Community Development Model (Brook & Oliver, 2003) to guide the study and measured the individuals’ community experience using the Sense of Community Index (Chavis et al., 1986) supported by observations and open ended questions. The chapter reports the findings of a multi-case study that explored instructor actions in the process of community development in online settings.