Social Presence and Online Learning Communities
Keywords:
online learning, learning communities, social presence, phenomenology, pre-service teachersAbstract
Online learning continues to grow rapidly in higher education. As institutions of higher education develop online courses and students participate in those courses, various issues arise: retention rates, feelings of isolation, and a decrease in feelings of success. By assisting students in establishing both a social presence as well as a learning community, teachers can help combat these issues. The broader phenomenological study consisted of three in-depth interviews with each of the 12 study participants, all undergraduate, pre-service teachers, regarding their experiences with online courses.
References
Amundson, A. (2021). Social presence theory: Creating engaging and strong online learning communities at the k-12 level". School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations.
Black, E. W., Dawson, K. and Priem, J. (2008). Data for free: Using LMS activity logs to
measure community in online courses. The Internet and Higher Education, 11(2),
-70. doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.03.002
Chapman, C., Ramondt, L., & Smiley, G. (2005). Strong community, deep learning:
Exploring the link. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 42(3),
-230.
Cherrstrom, C. A., Zarestky, J., & Deer, S. (2018). “This group is vital”: Adult peers in community for support and learning. Adult Learning, 29(2), 43–52.
Cleugh, C. (2013). Sense of community in post-secondary online blended courses:
Importance of, opportunities and implications for course development.
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.
Evans, S., Knight, T., Sønderland, A., & Tooley, G. (2014). Facilitators’ experience of
delivering synchronous and asynchronous online interprofessional education.
Medical Teacher, 36, 1051-1056. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2014.918254
Garcia-O’Neill, E. (2016). Social presence in online learning: 7 things instructional designers can
do to improve it. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/social-presence-in-online-learning-7-things-instructional-designers-can-improve#:~:text=Therefore%
C%20a%20%E2%80%9Cgood%E2%80%9D%20social,way%20that%20promotes%20their%20learning
Gunawardena, C. (1995). Social presence theory and implications for interaction and
collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1(2-3), 147–166
Kucuk, S., & Sahin, I. (2013). From the perspective of community of inquiry framework:
An examination of Facebook uses by pre-service teachers as a learning
environment. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology - TOJET, 12(2),
-156.
Lear, J. L., Ansourge, C. & Steckelberg, A. (2010). Interactivity/community process
model for the online education environment. Journal of Online Learning and
Teaching. 6(1), 71-77.
Rovai, A. P. (2002). Building sense of community at a distance. International Review of
Research in Open and Distance Learning.
Saw, K. G., Majid, O., Abdul Ghani, N., Atan, H., Idrus, R. M., Rahman, Z. A., & Tan,
K. E. (2008). The videoconferencing learning environment: Technology,
interaction and learning intersect. British Journal of Educational
Technology, 39(3), 475-485. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00736.x
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning
at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson
Tu, C. & Corry, M. (2001). Social presence and critical thinking for online learning.
Paper presented at the Annual Conference of American Educational Research
Association (AERA), New Orleans, LA.
Vlachopoulos, P. & Cowan, J. (2010). Reconceptualising moderation in asynchronous
online discussions using grounded theory. Distance Education. 31(1), 23-36.
Wagner, E., Enders, J., Pirie, M., & Thomas, D. (2016). Supporting academic integrity in
a fully-online degree completion program through the use of synchronous video
conferences. Journal of Information Systems Education, 27(3), 159-173.
Yuan, J., & Kim, C. (2014). Guidelines for facilitating the development of learning
communities in online courses. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(3),
-232. doi:10.1111/jcal.12042
Published
Issue
Section
License
All copyright remains with the author.
