‘A sense of community and camaraderie’: Increasing student engagement by supplementing an LMS with a Learning Commons Communication Tool

Whether by choice or pushed online by Covid, higher education is increasingly happening in digital spaces with digital tools forming a critical part of learning and teaching contexts. While reviews suggest such tools positively influence student engagement, research tends to be generic and more is needed to understand how and why specific tools can influence student engagement, learning, and success. Relationships are a key influence on student engagement and online students often feel disconnected and isolated; tools which increase interaction and communication with staff and among students are therefore important. This qualitative study examined how two specific tools, Discord and Teams, work in conjunction with an LMS to benefit student engagement and learning. Nineteen students were interviewed, and the data thematically analysed. Findings show the tools facilitated communication, helped build relationships and communities, encouraged help-seeking within the course and, with Discord, with the wider disciplinary community. These usages led to improved belonging, wellbeing, engagement, and learning. The perceived norms of the digital spaces were an important influence on student tool usage. A key contribution of this research is defining a new tool categorisation, Learning Commons Communication Tools (LCCT), which better describes the informal and organic spaces created by such tools.