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• Florida International University’s Real Connections Challenge is an app-based program that sparks conversation, encourages reflection, and builds community among remote business students.
• By using the gamified app to interact with peers, online students can win points and move up on the leaderboard, all while making deep connections with classmates.
• Students who use the app report that it helps them form habits that will stick with them, such as tracking daily wins and checking in with colleagues.

 
Online learning has undergone a dramatic transformation. Once perceived as a stopgap measure for providing education during the pandemic, it is maturing into a dynamic, interactive format that accommodates students no matter where they live and work. But one challenge persists: How can participants build real connections in virtual environments?

At Florida International University’s College of Business (FIU Business) in Miami, we’ve been grappling with that question for years. We knew that many online programs struggle because they try to replicate in-person experiences—hourlong lectures, scheduled meetings, and rigid assignments—in virtual formats. But online learning demands its own pedagogy—and its own way of helping students build their networks.

For our part, we saw this struggle particularly with our Professional MBA Online (PMBAO) program, which is designed for working professionals who are juggling careers, families, and international travel. With our PMBAO, we found that while students appreciated the program’s convenience and flexibility, they felt isolated and disconnected. Exit surveys and faculty feedback revealed a common theme: Students in online classes missed peer-to-peer relationships, the hallmark of traditional MBA programs.

We wanted to find a way to enhance our students’ learning experience by helping them build stronger connections with their peers. We weren’t just looking for higher satisfaction scores; we wanted lasting change for our students.

A Game-Changing Challenge

To achieve our goal, FIU Business launched the Real Connections Challenge—a 30-day app-based program structured as a for-credit professional development seminar. The program took the subtle but powerful approach of driving sustainable behavioral change through practice. By following the app’s prompts to take small, repeated actions, students developed new habits around networking, communicating, and expressing gratitude.

We developed the challenge in partnership with , an executive coaching firm founded by two-time FIU alumnus Sergio Tigera and his partner, Yosef Funke. The app was the brainchild of Tigera, who is a graduate of our executive MBA program and a former development director for the college. These experiences made him especially adept at understanding the problem and designing the solution.

Drawing on their deep expertise in leadership development and behavioral psychology, Tigera and his team provided the technology platform that enabled a challenge that was both effective and scalable. They also incorporated input from faculty and students to ensure that the challenge aligned with our goals and culture.

Angel Burgos of Florida International University (left) and Sergio Tigera, CEO of Gamechangers Consulting, show off the Gamechangers app. (Photo courtesy FIU Business)

Gamechangers had already worked with other educational institutions and organizations to implement similar engagement challenges, but FIU Business was the first to integrate such an initiative into a required for-credit course.

A Structured Approach to Connection

The Real Connections Challenge kicks off during orientation when students start their first week in the program. Over the next 30 days, students use the app to participate in a series of activities designed to spark conversation, encourage reflection, and build community.

Rather than asking students to simply attend Zoom mixers or join discussion boards, the app prompts them to engage in a series of daily actions. For instance, students might be asked to share a personal or professional “win” for the day, reach out to someone new in their cohort, offer words of encouragement or gratitude to a classmate, reflect on their strengths or leadership qualities, or follow up with someone they interacted with earlier in the week. While the tasks are small and take only a few minutes to complete, the idea is that they will collectively build into habits for the students.

Rather than asking students to simply attend Zoom mixers or join discussion boards, the app prompts them to engage in a series of daily actions. The idea is that these actions will collectively build into habits for the students.

Their actions are logged on the Gamechangers app, and students earn points by completing activities. Because we want to foster consistent engagement, not competition, we evaluate students based on their participation rather than our qualitative judgments.

However, the app does use gamification to keep things interesting. For instance, those who meet certain milestones receive digital badges and recognition within the program, and a leaderboard promotes a friendly element of competition. In addition, a social feed within the platform lets students comment on each other’s posts, “high five” achievements, and offer support or encouragement.

A Focus on Participation

One reason the challenge works is that it doesn’t ask students to change their schedules. Because the app is mobile-friendly, students can complete tasks at times that are convenient for them, whether that’s before work, during a lunch break, or in the evening. The app meets them where they are, in terms of both technology and mindset.

To encourage students to continue engaging with the challenge, we incorporate several elements:

• Daily notifications and reminders.
• Gamification elements such as streaks, leaderboards, and point-based incentives.
• Regular group discussions and check-ins via Zoom to build camaraderie.
• Faculty and peer shoutouts to celebrate active participants.

To help reinforce connections, we plan a virtual happy hour at the midpoint of the challenge. To give students an opportunity to celebrate their achievements, we plan a final reflection and celebration ceremony when we wrap up the initiative. The entire process is engaging, interactive—and, most important, transformative for the students.

A Look at Impact

To assess the effectiveness of the first Real Connections Challenge in spring 2025, we conducted pre- and post-challenge surveys, reviewed app usage data, and held reflection sessions with participants. The results were overwhelmingly positive:

• 82 percent of participants reported a stronger sense of belonging.
• 81 percent had taken proactive steps to strengthen relationships.
• 74 percent had formed at least three new connections, with 25 percent making six or more.
• 64 percent reported that the challenge had had a positive impact on their emotional well-being.

Additionally, engagement data from the app showed that students remained highly active throughout the 30 days of the challenge, with participation rates exceeding expectations. This data reinforced the idea that structured micro-engagements could significantly enhance the online learning experience.

Not only that, students formed habits that would stick with them. In post-challenge interviews, several students said they planned to continue practices such as tracking daily wins or checking in on classmates. These are skills that translate well beyond the MBA classroom.

Online education doesn’t have to be isolating. By prioritizing engagement, fostering genuine connections, and leveraging innovative technology, we can redefine what it means to be an online student.

One student, Mano Wared, who lives in San Diego and works remotely, noted that the initiative made the virtual educational experience much different than her day-to-day online work routine. “At work, I’m used to remote meetings. But with school, the lack of personal connection really hit me,” Wared says. “The challenge helped me feel like a part of something.”

Miami student Paulson Valcourt shared that the challenge entirely changed how he views networking. “I used to think it was about knowing as many people as possible,” says Valcourt. “Now I see it’s about real, meaningful relationships.”

Future Modifications and Lessons Learned

As we continue to refine the Real Connections Challenge, we are exploring several potential enhancements, including:

• Expanding the challenge beyond 30 days to reinforce long-term engagement habits.
• Integrating AI-driven insights to provide more personalized recommendations for students.
• Developing a mentor-student pairing feature to facilitate deeper professional connections.
• Introducing industry-specific networking modules to align with students’ career goals.

We have also learned three key lessons we can share with educators looking to replicate our model:

Structured reflection works. Small, intentional actions, repeated daily, yield significant shifts in behavior and mindset. In our challenge, students who took time to reflect on their experiences saw tangible improvements in their networking and communication skills.

Technology can bridge virtual gaps. The technology that supports the model should be simple and intuitive so students can engage without feeling overwhelmed.

Belonging matters. Online students crave connection just as much as their on-campus peers. By creating an environment that fosters community, administrators can significantly enhance the online learning experience.

Looking Ahead

Our Real Connections Challenge has proven to us that online education doesn’t have to be isolating. By prioritizing engagement, fostering genuine connections, and leveraging innovative technology, we have redefined what it means to be an online student at FIU Business.

As we continue to expand the program, our goal remains to provide students with the tools, support, and opportunities they need to succeed—not just academically, but in every aspect of their professional and personal lives.