Going to college symbolizes so much more than access to a quality education and fruitful career prospects. For many, college also offers a rite of passage into emerging adulthood, as they strive to connect with, and belong to, a new community of respected peers and mentors. But as higher education has had to increasingly adopt remote modes of learning and connection, we’re seeing unprecedented levels of disengagement and social isolation among college students today, many of whom are wondering where they belong.
Research during the last two years shows heightened reports of social isolation among young adults. Students report that social events are important aspects of college, and the disruptions on campus have weakened their social connections with friends and peers, significantly reducing how satisfied students feel with their social lives. As a result of increased remote learning, students have had to turn to technology to replace connections historically made on campus.
A student’s sense that they belong at college is more than just an afterthought to their education. National research shows that belonging is critical to the academic experience. In fact, students who feel they belong to their institution are less likely to drop out, especially among students from underrepresented or first-generation backgrounds. Included, connected, and integrated students are also successful students.
Higher education has struggled to adapt to the disruptive effects of the pandemic in being able to design learning experiences where all students feel they belong.
Unfortunately, higher education has struggled to adapt to the disruptive effects of the pandemic in being able to design learning experiences where all students feel they belong and create opportunities for connection with technology. Even prior to the pandemic, student persistence through graduation, a key outcome of engagement and belonging, was low: only two thirds of students at 4-year institutions and one third at 2-year institutions graduate.
If colleges want to support their students to thrive and graduate, they must find ways that sustain students’ sense of belonging and connection in an increasingly tech-enabled landscape.
How can technology help foster student belonging?
Remote learning was a significant driver to greater isolation among students, but technology is poised to be a foundational part of the solution in this new tech-enabled environment. The new normal of tech-enabled learning in higher education exposed the importance of social belonging among our students, or how connected and accepted they feel among the campus student community. But what does it look like when educational technology boosts—rather than inhibits—student belonging?
In our work as leaders of the College Innovation Network at WGU Labs, we’ve developed a rich research collaboration with colleges across the country to evaluate how technology can help build belonging and connection among students. And so far, we’ve identified several areas where technology holds immense potential.
If colleges want to support their students to thrive and graduate, they must find ways that sustain students’ sense of belonging and connection in an increasingly tech-enabled landscape.
First, educational technology can build belonging by creating new virtual spaces for students to connect, which is especially important for online-only learners. Through research with Rio Salado College, a two-year public community college in Arizona, and a primarily online institution, we evaluated the impact of students posting questions, replying, and reacting to posts within a virtual community platform powered by InScribe. Over a six-week study, students who engaged with the virtual community reported significantly higher belonging and peer connectedness than students who did not engage with the community through the InScribe platform. Students cited the ability to share their stories and hear other student’s experiences as helpful to reducing the isolation common in remote learning.
Second, education technology can be an effective tool for helping students connect in person too. Another study with PennWest California, a 4-year public university, and Loyola University New Orleans, a 4-year private university, evaluated how Nearpeer, a social networking app designed to help students find peers with similar interests to hang out with, helped first year students find friends on campus, which research has shown to improve retention. We found that using the app led to 90 percent (N =1,480) of students making new friends on the app (i.e., a mutual connection similar to Facebook friends), and 41 percent of users making a new “real life” friend as a result. These types of peer-connection tools are especially effective for helping students find friends to connect with prior to the start of the academic year.
These findings confirm an important insight: that a sense of belonging does not need to be rooted exclusively in face-to-face peer interaction. Instead, more symbolic, flexible, and convenient channels offered by technology also offer opportunities to create connections with peers. Although remote learning increased isolation among students, technology can be used as a force for social connection when intentionally designed and implemented into the student experience. Just as technology has changed how people connect across all facets of life, higher education should leverage technology to promote connection within campus communities.
A sense of belonging does not need to be rooted exclusively in face-to-face peer interaction. Instead, more symbolic, flexible, and convenient channels offered by technology also offer opportunities to create connections with peers.
Educational technology is also showing promise to enhance other aspects of belonging, too. Beyond feeling accepted and valued by peers, students benefit from a strong sense of what is called institutional belonging: the extent to which a student feels accepted and valued by their institution. For instance, new college application platforms, such as Concourse, are enabling colleges to apply for students, rather than the other way around. By flipping the script on admissions, these platforms are showing students they not only belong but are wanted. It’s the difference of being invited to a gathering, rather than requesting an invitation.
Lastly, technology can improve students’ sense of academic belonging: their confidence to navigate the inherent complexity of higher education and feel like they are an academic. At the College Innovation Network, we are currently developing a new education technology tool called Navigate UTM to help students navigate the complexity of student support services at their institution. These technologies can be particularly impactful for students from first-generation backgrounds who may be less acquainted with the “hidden curriculum” of the college experience.
It’s imperative that research continues to explore the role of technology in building belonging and fostering student engagement in the new normal of tech-enabled higher education. Although technology has contributed to the social challenges students have experienced, research is also showing how technology can build learning communities where all students belong. Coupled with channels that connect the student voice to institutional practices, technology is poised to help students create a greater sense of connection with their peers, feel valued by their institution, and gain confidence in their ability to excel academically.
