Text-Based Versus Video Discussion to Promote a Sense of Community: An International Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Creating an engaging online course where students feel part of an online community can be challenging even for the most experienced online educator. Online discussions are a common tool used to connect students in online courses, but it is often limited to text-based posts. This international research study compared the use of text-based versus video-based discussions in online courses to ascertain students’ perceptions of social presence. A mixed-methods design using a modified Social Presence, Likert-scale survey, and open-ended questions was utilized to evaluate students’ perceptions. The results showed that while students preferred text-based to video-based discussions, students perceived more social presence when using video-based discussions.