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Using a case study approach, this study explored the participants' perceptions of building learning communities in online courses in an online MBA program. The findings suggested that students felt a sense of belonging to a learning community when they took online courses in this program. The study found positive relationships between sense of learning community and perceived learning engagement, course satisfaction, and learning outcomes. In addition, interview findings revealed mixed perceptions of both online instructors and students with regard to the values and strategies for building learning communities in online courses. Many instructors have a weak awareness of online community and low value of its learning impact. The existing technology may still be a barrier without the supportive structure to enhance bonding within the online community. To design online courses for a learning community, the results suggest a more systematic instructional plan needs to be adopted to integrate elements of a learning community across different levels.
INTRODUCTION
Over the past decade we have witnessed exponential growth of online courses through a variety of educational or corporate settings. In line with this trend, there is an increased discussion with regard to building online communities in Web-based courses. This increased interest is primarily a reaction to two major concerns related to Web-based education: retention and quality (Rovai, 2002b). In online environments, the reduced social and visual cues might expose online learners to a risk of feeling isolated and disconnected. Studies found a weak sense of social cohesiveness could result in increased drop-outs of online students if they feel isolated and stressed (Eastmond, 1995). It is expected that an online community helps establish social connectedness among online instructors and students and thus reduces the potential attrition rates of online students (Rovai, 2002). Additionally, it is believed that the "social capital" (Schwier, 2004) derived from online communities-such as mutual understandings and shared values and behaviors-will eventually benefit online learners through the availability of greater support and socioemotional well-being (Rovai, 2001).
While there is a growing body of literature emphasizing the importance of building learning communities in online courses, clear directions based on empirical studies in this area are lacking and there is neither an accepted set of rules or strategies (Lock, 2002) nor clearly defined road maps...