A sense of belonging (SoB) is a recognised and valued concept in education, associated with increased student attainment, improved learner satisfaction and lowered attrition rates (O’Keefe, 2013). Widely accepted as a key indicator of and contributing factor to successful social integration within educational contexts (Tinto, 1993), a ‘sense of belonging’ is supported and developed through perceived and experienced feelings of social support, connectedness, and ‘mattering’ (Strayhorn, 2012). Some scholars, including the aforementioned, assert that learners are unable to fulfil to their full personal potential the academic and wider developmental opportunities offered through higher education without acquiring a SoB early in their engagement. Learners with a SoB are usually more motivated, more engaged with their studies and, reflecting the link between belonging and identity, have a strong belief that they can and will achieve (Matheson & Sutcliffe, 2017; Meehan & Howells, 2018). It is widely accepted nowadays that a SoB should be generated purposefully in order to address learners’ well-documented feelings of isolation, marginalisation, alienation and loneliness. Researchers (especially those in the US, such as Ostermann (2000), and Freeman et al. (2007)), have reported findings for campus-based learners confirming a link between SoB and improved academic engagement and achievement, heightened self-confidence and self-efficacy.

These outcomes may also be the experience of learners in any online learning environment, and indeed are desirable for them. However, online learning differs significantly from traditional classroom-based learning. The digital learning space is not contained within walls, and defined seating arrangements are replaced by informal discussion fora brought electronically to the learners’ personal spaces. Academic staff are not always present in person, with inputs now commonly offered as pre-recorded inputs on video. Enrolment, course choice and assignments are all processed digitally. In particular, the formal and informal face-to-face contacts with peers and tutors, which have been found to contribute so much to the development of relationships on campus on which a sense of belonging is founded (Simpson, 2003; Strayhorn, 2012; Tinto, 1993;), are rare and not as naturally occurring online. This raises a critical issue concerning the availability and facilitation of equivalent kinds of formal and informal interactions in the online context (Martinez, 2003; Muse, 2003; Thomas et al, 2014). Thus online learning, especially in the initial stages, calls upon learners (and particularly those new to online study) to be orientated towards and prepared for handling academic procedure and forms of engagement with peers, tutors and resources in new ways, including learning to study online and understanding the nature and challenges of ‘being’ and ‘belonging’ online.