Using Asynchronous Activities to Promote Sense of Community and Learning in an Online Course

The purpose of this case study was to explore three asynchronous communication activities with graduate students in an online course. Asynchronous discussions transcripts, a sense of community survey, and a course evaluation questionnaire were used to collect and analyze data. The results of this study may have implications for an effective design of asynchronous communication and interactions between student and instructor, student and student, and students and content. Results indicate that well-designed asynchronous activities can help to promote sense of community among online students. Implications and challenges in implementing asynchronous activities to foster sense of community and learning in an online learning environment are also discussed.