Creating a Sense of “Presence” in a Web-Based PSI Course: The Search for Mark Hopkins' Log in a Digital World

Abstract

The technical term presence concerns the feeling that a student is in a real classroom, in real time, with a real person managing the learning. This paper considers the two major factors affecting presence: 1) the choice of pedagogical strategy and 2) its implementation using a freshman computer course taught over the Web by the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) method. Special attention is paid to the location of professor, proctor, and students in this study as well as other strategies to heighten a sense of presence in Web-based courses.