With such a tiny study it's hard to generalize on the conclusion, but the article may be useful as an anecdote describing methods and approaches to creating a sense of belonging in an online class. It's a good article, but the authors, however, were unable to resist the urge to generalize, arguing "Online learners in a new and potentially alienating environment, remote from the physical campus and separated physically from their peers, seem to be especially in need of a sense of belonging." Maybe that's true, but they haven't shown that, and a proper assessment of their research should present it as a design study, not empirical data. See also a very similar but more theoretical study from last year by the two lead authors. And this course toolkit on the same tropic.
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