
Building Online Community for College Students
Connection is more important than ever.
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, what will become your campus digital living room or quad? Beyond the classroom, where will our students find each other to laugh, lead, and just be? How can student engagement professionals and social media professionals collaborate to create vibrant communities that, at least for now, live online?
Digital communities must be activated to accomplish student engagement. So, this space is to co-create resources, support, and strategies for digital, virtual and online resources for student engagement and community building.
This interactive webinar will share available digital community platforms, but even more importantly, guidance for creating, building, moderating, and engaging the digital communities.
Highlighted Content
Links to what was mentioned during the Building Online Community workshop.
Platforms to build online communities
- Facebook Groups
- Discord
- Mighty Networks
- GroupMe
- Kik
- Slack
- Padlet
- Marco Polo
- Patreon
- LinkedIn Group Overview
Josie & The Podcast Episode: Activating Micro-Digital Communities
Campus Sonar Daily Briefings on Coronavirus and Higher Education
Facebook Group: Digital Student Engagement & Community Building
About Josie

Dr. Josie Ahlquist is a digital engagement and leadership researcher, speaker, and consultant. She teaches teens, young adults, education professionals, and campus executives how to humanize technology tools and prioritize building online community.
She also serves as a research associate and instructor at Florida State University, creating curriculum to build digital literacy and leadership skills for undergraduates up to doctorate level students. She is extensively published and maintains an active blog and podcast (Josie & The Podcast), which have received accolades from EdTech Magazine, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education: Purposeful Social Media in a Connected World, comes out in July 2020.
Josie received her doctorate from California Lutheran University in Higher Education Leadership, Masters in Education from Northern Arizona University. She majored in sociology and human development at South Dakota State University.