The essential role of community in teaching and learning

Learning can happen anywhere but it often happens best when it occurs in connection with others. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened and caused many institutions to move all instruction to virtual modalities, many faculty and students expressed feelings of isolation and loneliness. In addition to that, anecdotal conversations with faculty and students pointed to the possibility that there was less learning that occurred during the pandemic in many instances as there was not the same focus on coursework, homework, and lectures. Perhaps the lack of feelings of connection and community with other learners had some direct impact on the level of learning.