Co-Constructing Belongingness

Abstract

Online environments have become a fact of life for education and business life, but participants do not always experience virtual space as a place where they truly belong. This case example illustrates some ways that social construction concepts, particularly the “communication perspective” of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) theory, were applied to the development and enactment of an inclusive collaborative online learning program. This online interactive space was envisioned as a “virtual home” and support group for fellowship participants for the development and presentation of their individual projects. Perspectives of program participants and organizers are both represented in this case example to help shed light on the way that the group space evolved over the course of the fellowship and lessons learned from the process. The use of concepts from CMM theory is underscored to reveal the dynamics of communication theory as a source of adding life and dimension to an online collaborative space, contributing to a sense of belongingness.