Breathing Life into Online Learning: Creating a Collaborative Cohort Online

Author: Sarah Hexamer

Supervisors: Martin Andrew Rachel McNamara

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20 January 2026

Hexamer, S. (2026). Breathing life into online learning: Creating a collaborative cohort online [Master's thesis, Otago Polytechnic]. Research Bank. https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.7308

Abstract

This research examines the needs of remote learners (ākonga) engaged in personal and professional development within online learning environments. The author through autoethnographic story-telling allows for the voices to be heard from the participants through the ‘I’ voice, situating personal experience within wider cultural, social, and professional contexts. As both participant and observer, the researcher employs storytelling as a means of generating, analysing, and interpreting experiential evidence. This approach fosters authenticity, transparency, and reflexivity, offering a rigorous method for connecting individual insights with collective meaning. It is particularly suited to contexts where identity, practice, and cultural responsiveness shape learning experiences.
Positioning herself as both researcher and facilitator, the author explores how engagement, collaboration, and motivation can be fostered within online cohorts. Unlike traditional, on campus learning spaces, virtual environments are inherently shared and equitable, with neither facilitator nor learner holding ownership. This dynamic requires facilitators to adopt a relational, learner centred approach that supports diverse readiness levels. While academically mature learners may naturally align with self determined, heutagogical principles, others, particularly recent school leavers' benefit from intentional facilitation that guides the transition from pedagogical to andragogical and ultimately heutagogical modes of learning.

A key theme emerging from the research is the importance of cultivating collaborative, connected online cohorts. Remote learners often experience isolation, making the development of belonging and community a critical pedagogical goal. The study demonstrates that strong academic relationships can be formed virtually and that collaborative cohorts, although often developing organically, require supportive conditions. Skilled facilitation helps establish trust, psychological safety, and shared purpose foundations that sustain motivation and engagement even during complex or theory-dense activities.

The research also highlights the distinct skill set required for online facilitation. Contrary to assumptions that the shift from face to face teaching is straightforward, online facilitation demands heightened attentiveness and energy. Facilitators must simultaneously manage interactive elements such as chat functions, breakout rooms, technical issues, and learner engagement, all while maintaining presence and enthusiasm. This complexity underscores the need for professional development focused on online pedagogy rather than relying on traditional teaching skills alone. Through ongoing critical reflexive practice, the author evaluates both the learning environment and her professional growth, underscoring her commitment to lifelong learning. The research ultimately aims to empower educators to embrace online teaching with confidence and curiosity, and to intentionally design learning spaces that nurture collaboration, motivation, and meaningful engagement among remote learners.

Keywords

remote learners, online learning, collaborative, lifelong learning, autoethnographic, education best practice, engaged learners

Licence

This thesis is publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.  This licence applies except where otherwise indicated, especially for images.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/