ABSTRACT

Community and connectedness are important concepts in online higher education. However, researchers debate how they are defined, operationalized, or enacted in practice. A scoping study was conducted to review the research literature on the extent, range, and nature of research in community and connectedness in online higher education. A total of 66 studies published from 2001 through 2018 were identified for review. The findings illustrate how research on community and connectedness has focused on areas such as course design, technology tools, faculty, and students as well as highlight the important role these concepts have played in the last two decades in online higher education. The gaps in the literature suggest a need to further investigate the role community and connectedness play in different types of programs and other roles that faculty, staff, and students could play to foster these concepts.

摘要

社区和联系是在线高等教育的重要概念。但是，研究人员争论着如何在实践中定义，操作或制定它们。进行了范围界定研究，以复习有关在线高等教育社区和联系性研究的范围，范围和性质的研究文献。确定从2001年到2018年共发表66篇研究以供审查。研究结果表明，有关社区和连接性的研究如何集中于课程设计，技术工具，教职员工和学生等领域，并强调了这些概念在过去二十年中在在线高等教育中发挥的重要作用。文献中的空白表明，有必要进一步调查社区和联系在不同类型的计划中所扮演的角色以及教师，