Problem

At ISABC, an independent school association, members were struggling to find ways to connect and engage with their community of learning groups. With the pandemic forcing everyone to stay at home and then at their schools, it became increasingly difficult for these groups to meet in person and continue their educational pursuits. We needed a solution that would allow them to foster a sense of community among these groups virtually.

After conducting research and speaking with members of the learning groups, we discovered that many were feeling isolated and disconnected from one another. They needed a platform that would allow them to easily communicate, share resources, and collaborate on projects together. Additionally, the platform needed to be user-friendly and accessible for individuals with varying levels of technical expertise.

Solution

We maximized our use of Zoom to benefit our community of learning groups. Instead of a static Zoom presentation experience, we always made sure to create multiple forms of break out groups, we used polls and other apps to make sure it was interactive. This created a simple tech demand on people but maximized the benefit of meeting online.

As well, we were able to access more speakers to pop online for a 45 minute session. This meant we could stretch our speaker budget further. We prioritized a lot of diversity and inclusion speakers which was part of our focus that year, and very useful to a variety of groups from HR, to recruitment, to managers and to classroom teachers.

Impact

Increased engagement among members- since we were a provincial organization our more remote schools could participate
Improved communication between learning groups- members now had colleagues they could reach out to beyond their small geographic zone.

Team

Team Member #1 - CEO
- Conducted research with the Board, heads of schools and principals
- Authorized budget
Team Member #2 - instructional designer
- Met with community of learning group leaders
- Networked and developed relationships with internal diversity leaders and speakers
- Managed learning group technical needs
- Developed schedule of speakers and topics (with CEO guidance)
- Incorporated feedback from learning group members to improve design elements

Non-Profit's Online Platform Boosts Learning Group Engagement