The New Normal: Best Practices for Virtual Learning Communities in a Hybrid World

Christine Tenny, MS Data Analytics and Visualization ’22; Christy Laperriere, MS Information Experience Design ’22, and Eesha Parasnis, MS Information Experience Design ’23

Irene Lopatovska

School of Information

As a result of the world turning to virtual solutions as an alternative to physical experiences due to the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions had to adapt to this new world by offering both undergraduate and masters programs that were predominantly remote.

This adaptation represented a transition that was entirely foreign, allowing for very few opportunities for students and educators to socialize or connect in familiar ways. Research conducted in the 2021 school year, identified a gap in networking opportunities, social isolation, and siloing amongst students and faculty as direct results of these circumstances.

With the 2022 school year representing a turn towards a hybrid model, The New Normal: Best Practices for Virtual Learning Communities in a Hybrid World was an opportunity to track these findings to understand how they could be mitigated in the future should the Institute ever have to return to a fully remote model of learning and educating.