Technology-Enhanced Social-Emotional Learning Community

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has increased the level of stress and loneliness experienced by teens, and there is an urgent need for them to learn social-emotional skills and feel supported by their peers. A technology-enhanced social-emotional learning community was designed to help students acquire effective coping skills and connect meaningfully with others. A study was conducted with 38 high school students, and their coping skills, feeling of social support, and level of stress were measured before and after engaging in the community. Results suggested that social-emotional skill development can be enhanced using an online learning community, where students share their struggles anonymously and learn coping skills by browsing effective coping strategies to support their peers. The results offered opportunities to leverage technology-enhanced learning communities to broaden access to quality social emotional learning experiences and help foster psychological well-being of more high school students. © ISLS.