Promises of structured relationship building for higher distance education: Evaluating the effects of a virtual fast-friendship procedure

The main aim of the present research is to introduce and evaluate the effects of a virtual relationship-building program designed to foster social integration among distance education students. To achieve this purpose, the authors developed a Moodle-based adaptation of Aron et al.’s (1997) “fast-friendship procedure.” The evaluation has employed a longitudinal randomized delayed intervention group design with an additional non-random comparison...