A sense of belonging and personal connection can be argued as essential for both staff and students alike regardless of the learning context. In this pandemic era, 'Relationship-rich education' philosophies for universities are considered more vital than ever due to increased online learning (Felten & Lambert et al., 2020). To-date, higher education students' sense of belonging is a concept that has not been adequately conceptualised. The current literature on 'sense of belonging' spans a number of disciplines, with no apparent consensus on definition between these, complicated by the fact that sense of belonging is temporal and context-sensitive such as during COVID-19. Whilst there has been recent studies outlining the student experience of belonging in the online space (Peacock et al., 2020), investigation of teacher/educator experiences have been relatively overlooked. This presentation will present interim findings from the SoE CSSP that explored students' sense of belonging to their education units.

Online learning is a well-established mode for tertiary education and training. However, technology-mediated learning at a distance continues to face challenges to participant engagement, despite the proliferation of models of effective online learning and the implementation of increasingly sophisticated technologies to enhance learning(Bragg, Walsh & Heyeres, 2021). The critical need to build and maintain relationships for effective learning continues to be confounded by the geographic and temporal distribution of online participants as well as the nuances of the technology in use. Online learning occurs in collaborative text-spaces within learning management systems, social media spaces and their attendant learning objects such as forums, many of which foreground language as the primary resource for making meaning with others. As such, ongoing challenges to engagement in online learning may be viewed with fresh eyes by considering the language-based interpersonal affordances of these text-spaces. This pecha kucha presentation examines how the language choices made by learning facilitators impact on student engagement in online learning. It draws on a case study of the strategic use of evaluative language –the language used to express feelings and build relationships -by one teacher educator to engage initial teacher education students in online learning. Underpinned by the Systemic Functional Linguistic model of language (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) and following Martin & White (2005), appraisal analysis of weekly forum posts across three iterations of a unit of study shows how changes to language choices made by the teacher educator positively impacted on student engagement. This illuminates the relationship between online learning and language, and how judicious use of language-based meaning making resources can be used to improve online participant engagement.

Despite evidence of practices that support online students in university learning, promoting engagement and building a student sense of belonging continue to be a challenge. To enhance student engagement, a suite of evidence-based learning design strategies was incorporated across online units of study in initial teacher education programmes at a regional Australian university. To determine the impact of these strategies or elements, students were surveyed regarding their perspectives on how the elements had positively impacted their sense of belonging within the online university community. The systemic functional linguistics Appraisal framework was used to analyse qualitative survey data, which reported students experienced an increased sense of belonging expressed as positive Judgements of their own mental capacities. Students also expressed feeling cared for, valued and supported by academics and experienced enjoyment in their learning and reduced levels of stress. All elements were positively evaluated; however, unit coordinator behaviour, especially social capacity, was unexpectedly important in increasing student sense of belonging. Whilst ongoing incorporation of design elements to enhance engagement is important, the behaviours of unit coordinators actioned through these elements were paramount in promoting student belonging.

Implications for practice or policy:

• Increasing levels of student belonging may be improved by including learning experiences that promote feelings of success and relationships with others.

• Unit coordinators can enhance online student belonging by using online learning design elements to demonstrate approachability, understanding, supportiveness, availability, presence, care and patience.

• Universities should consider adopting organisation-wide initiatives that promote consistent and visible learning design features and staff presence, with the aim of addressing attrition and retention challenges.

As professional learning and development (PLD) for teachers moves online, it is increasingly important to consider what constitutes effective provision. While models of effective PLD abound, online PLD faces challenges to participant engagement. In particular, the critical need to build and maintain relationships in professional learning is complicated by the geographic and temporal distribution of online participants as well as the nuances of the technology in use. We argue that online PLD occurs in collaborative text-spaces within learning management systems, social media spaces and their attendant learning objects such as forums. As such, persistent challenges to engagement in online PLD may be met by considering the language based interpersonal affordances of these text-spaces. We employ a small-scale corpus study and appraisal analysis to demonstrate the value of Systemic Functional Linguistics in addressing the challenges of online learning, particularly how the meaning making resources of the interpersonal metafunction can be used to improve participant engagement.