"Mixing" traditional and non-traditional online technologies to build community in an online mixed methods research methods course

The Covid-19 pandemic thrust many students and instructors into an online learning environment for the first time. This chapter discusses the authors’ experiences developing and implementing a community-based approach in an online mixed methods course for graduate students. Specifically, it describes how traditional technologies (discussion boards and videoconferencing) and non-traditional technologies (avatar-based meetings) were employed to establish a sense of community and support students’ mixed methods training. To study the implementation of these technologies, instructor field notes, course materials, an online student survey, and end-of-course evaluations were collected and analysed. Findings suggest that (a) mixing technologies established a sense of community and flexibility for students; (b) students had mixed reactions to asynchronous discussion boards; (c) incremental tasks supported students’ development of a mixed methods proposal; and (d) synchronous sessions facilitated teaching presence. The chapter concludes by offering practical guidance and key lessons learned.