How can I build community in remote learning environments?

“We are essentially social beings. We live in societies, of course; but more fundamentally perhaps, it is our participation in social communities and cultural practices that provides the very materials out of which we construct who we are, give meaning to what we do, and understand what we know.”

— Etienne Wenger, Communities of practice: where learning happens, Benchmark Magazine, Fall Issue 1991

We created this resource with the Silver Linings Café participants in June 2020. We updated it in October 2022.

The Silver Linings Café was an Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy initiative that AlphaPlus was invited to participate in.

This resource includes ideas from the Silver Linings Café instructors for how to engage learners and build community in video conferences (Zoom) during the pivot to remote learning during the COVID-19 lock down period. We were all getting used to working in this new environment and came together to share ideas, support each other and figure out how to support learners and learning.

Building Community in Remote Learning Environments