Nipper (1989) suggests that the need for social connection is a goal that almost supersedes the content orientated goals for the course (as cited in Blocher & Tucker 2002).

While it isn’t unusual for the learners to connect via social media outside of the course, the teacher plays an absolutely vital role in establishing any sense of community. They must intentionally plan community building and ensure their own ‘presence’ is very strongly felt.

Palloff and Pratt (2007) define this community building as ‘Coalescence’ and reinforce that it will take time, but that the first few weeks are vital to its success. Within the VLNC model this is a key message conveyed to all teachers – prioritise community building rather than content in the first few weeks of a course.

Practical strategies early on could include:

• Getting acquainted with learners by asking them to share photos, biographies, and interests. Asking for introductions from everyone, and modelling this first as a teacher.

• Using icebreaker activities to facilitate the identification of common interests among students.

• Making student profiles visible and ensuring students have an image of themselves or representing themselves in their profile. This is far better than a faceless silhouette that is the default and builds ‘social presence’.

• Incorporating audio or video messages using slideshow-sharing tools.

• Intentionally designing activities that require social connection which then build to collaboration or discussion once trust has been built.

• Ensuring students use the social functionality in the online hub to ask questions. The teacher should set a rule that all questions are asked here, rather than by email. This reinforces the importance of the community early on.

• The teacher should contribute to discussions judiciously to allow students’ voices to dominate.

• Contributing to the social discussion by starting a conversation and being open to sharing personal stories and experiences.

Much of this activity will occur asynchronously in the online hub. This enables time for students to respond, read and contribute without fear of being ‘called on’ unexpectedly. Synchronous sessions will support community building, but they are not the focal point for it, especially early on when some learners will find the directness of the environment very uncomfortable. Once the teacher has built a high trust environment, learners will become comfortable interacting directly with each other through the video conference.