Abstract
With the advent of the Internet, schools are now able to better fulfill student's needs in terms of how they offer classes. Life is faster paced, with many people juggling work as well as study, so the ability for a university or college to offer classes online is now an option that many schools are deciding to focus on in order to cater to the needs of students. However, with the move away from the traditional face-to-face classroom interaction to a more impersonal computer classroom, many instructors have to deal with the fact that their online classes are not offering the same kind of feel of community that a traditional classroom can offer. Online classes are social classes that rely heavily on one's ability to communicate effectively in a group setting. Community, the sense of belonging to a group of same interest, is something very key to the success of many face-to-face classes. How does one transfer that same community and closeness to an online class for students that may have never met each other in real life and have only ever interacted together across the Internet?
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
