Fostering a Sense of Belonging

Abstract

An escalated number of university students report feeling disconnected from universities. There is also an increase in students who prefer to attend a university online as opposed to face-to-face. Online learning has the potential to increase a sense of disconnection and loneliness. This chapter provides teaching strategies to guide any faculty member towards implementation of UDL in an online setting while fostering a sense of belonging. The checkpoints were carefully selected from CAST UDL guidelines and provide practical suggestions for implementation that encourage faculty to try one new strategy today.