HealthyMindEd — Category 1: Header

Category 1

Connection, Communication and Wellbeing in Digital Education

How presence, dialogue and belonging hold up when a class moves online.

3 sections · 22 resources

HealthyMindEd — Category 1: Section 1.1

1.1 Human Connection in Digital Learning 6 items

Where digital connection is built, and where it quietly erodes.

Introductory text to the section Read

Digital learning can connect people across places, schedules and circumstances. Yet being online together does not automatically mean feeling connected. When informal conversations, responses and signs of recognition are missing, students and teaching staff may feel distant from one another—even while participating in the same course. Over time, this relational disconnection can contribute to loneliness, uncertainty and a reduced sense of belonging.

Human connection grows when people experience one another as present, attentive and responsive. It can develop through small actions: greeting someone by name, acknowledging a contribution, asking a genuine question, responding to a message, checking in or creating informal moments for conversation. Personal connection between students and teaching staff does not require sharing private information or being constantly available. It means relating to one another as people and showing that each person’s presence and contribution matter.

Connection is co-created. Teaching staff can provide opportunities and set a relational tone, but students also shape the experience through how they respond, participate and engage with others. Not every interaction will feel equally meaningful, and connection cannot remove every experience of loneliness. However, small and consistent relational practices can make digital learning feel less distant and more human.

In this section, you will explore the building blocks of digital connection, consider how seemingly small actions influence belonging, and discover practical ways to strengthen relationships while respecting personal and professional boundaries.

Reflection question: What helps you feel that you are learning with people rather than simply accessing a digital course?

Are we connected? Watch

How does connection feel in digital learning?

Students and teaching staff can participate in the same digital environment but experience it very differently. Silence, camera-off participation or withdrawal may easily be interpreted as disengagement, even when someone is thinking, facing personal constraints or trying to find a way back after an absence.

This short video presents three perspectives and shows how small interactions can change whether people feel recognised, included and able to participate.

As you watch, consider: When have you felt connected or disconnected in a digital learning environment, and what contributed to that feeling?

Video currently in production (FAU) — YouTube link to follow

The building blocks of digital connection View

A visual overview of the small, everyday actions that build connection in digital learning — and the signals that show whether presence is landing.

View the infographic

Try this: small ways to strengthen digital connection Try it

A short interactive activity — explore a few small, low-effort actions that make digital presence feel more human.

Boundaries of peer support Read

Connection does not mean taking responsibility for everything.

Periods of transition, such as joining a course, entering an established group, returning after an absence or adapting to a new learning environment, can make it particularly difficult to ask for help or participate. A small welcome, personal point of contact or respectful check-in can make connection easier.

You can:

notice and acknowledge changes;
ask respectfully how someone is doing;
listen without immediately trying to solve the problem;
ask what kind of support would be helpful;
signpost relevant support where appropriate.

You are not expected to:

diagnose someone’s difficulties;
provide counselling;
pressure someone to disclose personal information;
remain constantly available;
take sole responsibility for another person’s wellbeing.

Additional sources Go further

A curated selection for students and teaching staff.

Tools and activities to try

Focusmate — a virtual co-working platform that pairs people for timed video sessions; an example of body doubling and peer accountability.
MoodSpace: PepSpace — a low-threshold activity based on encouraging messages, compliments and digital cards.

Explore connection, belonging and loneliness

MoodSpace: Connectedness — an extensive resource about belonging, relationships and social support.
MoodSpace: Powerful Stories — videos and personal accounts on vulnerability, coping and sources of support.
Lund University: Adjustment Difficulties and Loneliness — accessible information on loneliness, homesickness and adjustment.

Examples of peer-support practice

Examples for developing organised peer connection

Background and evidence

Student Loneliness Approach – Hanze University — Dutch-language research on loneliness among students.

HealthyMindEd — Category 1: Section 1.2

1.2 Communication, Feedback and Expectations 7 items

Making the communication loop explicit instead of assumed.

Introduction text to the section Read

The expectations we do not discuss

Every course includes formal expectations, such as deadlines, assessment criteria, participation requirements and scheduled activities. Yet students and teaching staff also develop less visible expectations about how they will communicate and work together. How quickly should messages be answered? Which communication channel should be used? What does meaningful participation look like? When and how will feedback be provided? What should happen when someone cannot meet an expectation?

Denise Rousseau describes these written and unwritten understandings through the concept of the psychological contract. This refers to the beliefs people develop about what they can reasonably expect from one another within a relationship. Importantly, these beliefs may not be identical. Students and teaching staff can participate in the same course while holding different assumptions about availability, communication, feedback, flexibility and responsibility.

In digital education, these differences can be particularly difficult to recognise because many of the informal conversations and social cues available in physical settings are reduced or absent. An unanswered message may be interpreted as a lack of support, while the recipient may believe that the expected response time was already clear. Silence may be understood as satisfaction, even when someone is uncertain whether their feedback is welcome or will make a difference.

Making expectations visible does not mean establishing rigid rules for every situation. It means creating opportunities to explain, ask, clarify and revisit what students and teaching staff can reasonably expect from one another. This can reduce uncertainty, prevent avoidable misunderstandings and support more open and trusting communication.

Reference: Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. SAGE Publications, Inc. doi.org/10.4135/9781452231594

I thought you knew Watch

When expectations remain unspoken

Students and teaching staff can participate in the same course while holding very different assumptions about communication, availability and feedback. An unanswered message, unclear instructions or silence after a request for feedback may therefore be interpreted in ways that neither side intended.

This short video shows how unspoken expectations can create frustration and mistrust, even when everyone is acting with good intentions. It also illustrates how making expectations visible can prevent misunderstandings and support more open communication.

As you watch, consider: Which expectations about communication, response times and feedback do you assume others already understand—but may never have explicitly discussed with them?

Video currently in production (FAU) — YouTube link to follow

The communication loop View

A visual walk-through of how a message sent isn’t the same as a message received — and where the loop tends to break.

View the infographic

Text introduction of agreement Read

Creating a shared digital communication agreement

Clear communication works best when expectations are not simply announced but discussed and agreed between teaching staff and students. The template can help you explore how you want to communicate, participate, provide feedback and respect one another’s boundaries in a digital learning environment.

The template is intended as inspiration rather than a fixed set of rules. Select, revise or remove sections according to the course, group and institutional context. Some expectations may already be determined by formal requirements, while others can be shaped together. The agreement should also be revisited when circumstances or communication needs change.

Template: digital communication charter Download

A fillable template for building the agreement above together with your students — what to expect from each other, and how to revisit it later.

Download the template

Communicating clearly and learning from feedback Try it

Small communication choices can make digital learning feel clearer, more respectful and more responsive. Open the sections below to explore a quick check for writing digital messages and why feedback from students is also important for teaching staff. Consider which ideas could strengthen communication in your own learning or teaching context.

Additional sources Go further

Further reading on communicating expectations, digital boundaries and student wellbeing.

Communicating expectations and support

Syllabus Statement for Student Well-being – University of Michigan — example syllabus statements linking wellbeing and academic success, inviting students to communicate difficulties.

Digital availability and communication boundaries

Digital Well-being – KU Leuven Media Psychology Lab — research on connection, digital flourishing and voluntary disconnection in always-on environments.

Background on communication and participation in student wellbeing

Student Health Management: Recommendations for Theory and Practice — German-language recommendations on participation, stakeholder communication and evaluation.
Handbook of Student Health Management – Springer — German-language handbook on health-promoting teaching and digital transformation (full access may require purchase).

HealthyMindEd — Category 1: Section 1.3

1.3 Social Presence, Participation and Camera-Off Culture 5 items

What we assume about a dark tile — and what's usually true.

Introduction text to the section Read

What a dark tile doesn’t tell you

A screen full of camera-off tiles can look like a room nobody is really in. It rarely is. Someone may be listening closely, taking notes, dealing with a poor connection, or simply not comfortable being seen — and none of these things mean they are absent from the learning.

Social presence is not the same as visibility. It is the sense that the people in a digital space are real, attentive and reachable — a sense that can be built through voice, chat, reactions and timely responses just as much as through a camera. When presence is reduced to "camera on or off," a lot of genuine participation becomes invisible, and a lot of assumptions fill the gap instead.

Participation is also something staff and students shape together. Teaching staff can open multiple, genuine ways to take part; students shape how the space feels through how they show up in whichever way is available to them. Neither side can manufacture connection alone, but small, consistent choices on both sides make a digital room feel more inhabited.

In this section, you will look at the wider spectrum of social presence beyond the camera, explore how easily assumptions form when we can't see each other, and find practical ways to build a participation culture that doesn’t depend on any one signal.

Reflection question: When a camera is off in your own sessions, what do you usually assume — and how much of that is actually visible evidence versus habit?

The social presence spectrum View

A visual map of social presence signals beyond the camera — from voice and chat to reactions and follow-up.

View the infographic

Camera off — what do you assume? Try it

Camera off: what do you assume?

A screen full of camera-off tiles can tell many different stories. Are people disengaged, thinking carefully, protecting their privacy or simply unsure how to participate?

In this branching scenario, you will experience one online session from the perspectives of students, peers and teaching staff. You will make decisions and explore how different responses may affect participation, trust, privacy and the sense of connection within a group.

The scenario will help you recognise that camera status alone is not a reliable indicator of engagement, question assumptions about camera-off behaviour and consider how social presence can be communicated through voice, chat, reactions, shared activities and relational actions. It also explores how students and teaching staff can share responsibility for creating purposeful, inclusive and reciprocal participation—without expecting everyone to be present in exactly the same way.

As you go through it, consider: What assumptions do you make when you cannot see the people behind the screen—and how might those assumptions influence what happens next?

Branching scenario built — H5P embed link to follow once uploaded to h5p.media-and-learning.eu

The digital participation toolkit Download

The Digital Participation Toolkit

Participation in digital education is not always immediately visible. Cameras may be off, people may need time to think, and students and teaching staff may prefer or require different ways of contributing. This does not necessarily mean that they are absent or disengaged. At the same time, some signals are needed for others to recognise their presence and experience the learning environment as responsive and connected.

This toolkit helps students and teaching staff agree how participation can be communicated through cameras, voice, chat, reactions, collaborative activities and follow-up contributions. Go through the template together, select the approaches that suit your course or session, and record the practices you want to adopt.

Keep in mind: meaningful participation does not require everyone to be visible or contribute in the same way — it requires genuine opportunities to contribute, signals that make presence recognisable, and responses that show people their participation has been noticed and matters.

Download the toolkit

Relevant literature Go further

Peer-reviewed research on webcam use, presence and engagement in online learning.

Bedenlier, S., Wunder, I., Gläser-Zikuda, M., Kammerl, R., Kopp, B., Ziegler, A., & Händel, M. (2021). Generation invisible? Higher education students’ (non)use of webcams in synchronous online learning. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 2, Article 100068. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100068
Cedillo-Hernandez, A., Velazquez-Garcia, L., Longar-Blanco, M. D. P., Cedillo-Hernandez, M., & Lopez-Gonzalez, M. G. C. (2026). Cameras On or Off? A Critical Analysis of Privacy, Equity, and Pedagogical Engagement in Online Education. Education Sciences, 16(2), 256. doi.org/10.3390/educsci16020256
Duarte, A., Surugiu, R., Moraru, M., Dinu, I., & Ghasemi, E. (2026). Webcam Use in Online Learning: A Cross-National Survey of Portuguese and Romanian University Students. Journal of Digital Pedagogy, 5(1). doi.org/10.61071/JDP.2668
Farid, H., Siddiqui, T. A., Sukhia, R. H., Hasan, S. J., Naveed, A., & Pasha, L. (2022). Imperceptible learners: Students’ reasons for keeping webcams off and strategies to address students’ challenges. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 11, Article 325. doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1836_21
Gao, Y. (2025, October 27). Student webcam use in online learning. ASC Office of Distance Education, The Ohio State University. ascode.osu.edu/news/student-webcam-use-online-learning
Groß, M., & Fries, A. (2026). The webcam strikes a balance: The light and dark sides of webcam use in higher education policies. Policy Futures in Education, 24(1), 122–145. doi.org/10.1177/14782103251408923
Wertheimer, B. (2025, October 17). The black box problem: Why cameras matter in the online classroom. Faculty Focus. facultyfocus.com