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This special issue considers uses of technology aimed at facilitating our students’ sense of belonging. As we received proposals and submissions for the issue, we found the very notion of “facilitating our students’ sense of belonging” proved to be a doorway to a rich context with a diversity of purposes for using technology and a multitude of tools. As our authors broke down the meaning of “sense of belonging,” they often identified that feelings such as respect, courage, and importance, were at play. They found that relatedness, thinking of oneself as a member of a group or community, matters.

In computer technology, statistics, and business courses that I have taught over the past decade, students have worked in groups/teams. I assumed students communicated with teammates within the Learning Management System (LMS). In 2017, I was surprised to discover students were using GroupMe. To help me understand the attraction, I signed up for a GroupMe account. I was underwhelmed with its purpose but understood the ease of the application. I was also learning more about Slack, thinking it was a much better tool for communication and collaboration, and realizing that communicating within the LMS was not ideal, even awkward, and not real world. However, Slack was not readily available for student use, so when our institution introduced Microsoft Teams in 2020, I began exploring using Microsoft Teams for teamwork/projects because it is a real-world tool that students will likely use/encounter after college. I have been using Microsoft Teams consistently since Fall 2020. Using Microsoft Teams moves students from conceptual to applicable knowledge related to teamwork, communication, and even leadership skills. Microsoft Teams can supplement any content/course project. Requiring students to use Microsoft Teams as it would be used in the workplace allows teams to choose when they meet to collaborate, manage their “channel,” and ultimately create their project. All the work leading up to the final deliverable is archived in one space accessible by instructor (manager) as would be in the real world. The assessment(s) takes on a level of authenticity that is missing with a traditional LMS. In this reflective essay, I will show how Microsoft Teams supports authentic assessment while engaging students in a real-world technology that adds to their post-undergraduate toolkit and future success.

Previously we used citation analysis on reference lists from beginning psychology students in online distance learning (ODL). Now we examined second year students’ source use. Sources increased across assignments. Most used were the textbook, instructor and library sources. The mark achieved increased with number of sources, instructor sources, and library sources. Instructor and library sources were frequently referenced by both sets of students, and source use related positively to mark. This research expands the literature by comparing beginning and more advanced students; by replicating results from other researchers; and by examining two assignments from ODL students.

Literacy skills and behaviours of university-level students are of wide interest today. The research reported here fits in this tradition. It examines second-year psychology students' source use in a course taught through online distance learning (ODL). The number of sources used increased across assignments. Most used were the textbook, instructor sources, and librarian-selected sources. The mark achieved increased with number of sources, instructor sources, and librarian-selected sources. Compared with previous research on first-year students, instructor and librarian-selected sources were frequently referenced by both sets of students, and source use related positively to their marks. This research expands the literature by comparing beginning and more advanced students; by replicating previous results; and by examining two assignments from ODL students.

Reference lists from two assignments of psychology students in university-level online distance learning (ODL) were analyzed for number and type of sources and mark achieved. Most referenced were resources relevant to the assignment and provided by instructors. Use changed across assignments: Instructor sources were used more on the first assignment than the second, while library and other sources were used more on the second. Number of sources, use of instructor sources, and use of library Subject Guide sources were positively related to mark. This research expands the literature by examining two successive assignments from a large sample of ODL students.