{"id":5741,"date":"2020-11-04T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/innovationhub\/?p=5741"},"modified":"2024-06-20T15:33:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T19:33:11","slug":"delving-into-the-digital-campus-exploring-the-importance-of-digital-communities-to-uoft-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/innovationhub\/delving-into-the-digital-campus-exploring-the-importance-of-digital-communities-to-uoft-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Delving into the Digital Campus – Exploring the Importance of Digital Communities to UofT Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ayaan Hagar – Project <\/em>Team Lead<\/em>, Kethmi Egodage \u2013 Community, Social Connection & Support for Students Team Member<\/em>, and Betelehem Gulilat \u2013 Lead Editor & Writer<\/em><\/strong>
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Our new reality has accelerated change in all areas of our lives, from work to socializing, we\u2019re staying connected to our communities through the most hyper-connected platform called the internet. <\/span><\/span>What elements of digital connections and communities help students feel like they\u2019re connected with one another? <\/span><\/span>With this question in mind, we\u2019d like to introduce <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>Digital Community <\/span><\/span>& <\/span><\/span>Connectedness <\/span><\/span>Project<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. <\/span><\/span>Building on our previous work, <\/span><\/span>this project is<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>exploring <\/span><\/span>how the student experience of finding and engaging in communit<\/span><\/span>y<\/span><\/span> continues to<\/span><\/span> shift<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>during this time<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>and what implications this has for those who <\/span><\/span>build and <\/span><\/span>facilitate connection<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> within the online UofT <\/span><\/span>community.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Fostering Connectedness at UofT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fostering connectedness is one of our five domains of innovation and a common thread in many of our projects. Through hearing student stories across campus, we recognize that having a sense of belonging and connection to the UofT community is such a vital part of a fulfilling student experience. <\/span>You can visit many of our current projects<\/span> that aim to <\/span>foster connectedness <\/span><\/i>within our UofT community<\/span> here<\/strong><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since<\/span> the start of <\/span>the <\/span>lockdown and transition to online<\/span> learning<\/span>, we\u2019ve been working to find innovative ways to bridge gaps in resources for <\/span>students. <\/span>In particular, our<\/span> Digital Connections Toolkit <\/span>was built to <\/span>promote <\/span>student<\/span> autonomy in <\/span>facilitat<\/span>ing<\/span> connections and engag<\/span>ing<\/span> with their <\/span>communities online by providing <\/span>useful information on<\/span> <\/span>various <\/span>online communications platforms. <\/span>If you\u2019re interested in learning more about this toolkit, click here<\/a><\/strong>.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The Digital Community and Connectedness Project<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Various<\/a><\/p>\n

The aim of this project is to understand how the pandemic<\/span> <\/span>has affected the UofT student communities<\/span>, especially when looking at how students find and make connections<\/span> in <\/span>digital spaces. Some of the questions we\u2019re hoping to unveil <\/span>through this project include: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n