Social Presence In Online Courses Research Articles

Student Perceptions of Social Presence in Online Courses

Student Perceptions of Social Presence in Online Courses

Exploring student perceptions of asynchronous video in online courses

Research suggests that video can improve social presence in online courses. Video, though, is not a panacea; rather the success of video use depends in part on how and when it is used. Online instructors are increasingly using video in various ways, but questions remain on which types of videos students value most when it comes to establishing social presence. Given this, this mixed-methods sequential explanatory study explored student perceptions of three types of asynchronous video: video announcements, instructional videos, and video feedback. The results suggest that while video has the potential to improve social presence, it ultimately depends on both how the video is used in the online classroom as well as students’ individual preferences. Students in this study preferred instructional videos the most, followed by video feedback, and then video announcements. The paper provides implications for future research and practice.

Asynchronous Video-Based Discussions in the Online Classroom

This article presents a review of research surrounding asynchronous video communication and its impact on social presence in online courses. The author includes a narrative of firsthand experience as an instructional designer implementing asynchronous multimodal discussions, along with a survey of student perspectives as well as the instructor's. Recommendations for improvement in future implementations are also included.

Investigating students’ perceptions of instructional strategies to establish social presence

ABSTRACTSocial presence is a popular construct used to describe how people socially interact in online courses. Online educators continue to try different ways to establish and maintain social presence in online courses. However, research to date has not identified which strategies, or types of strategies, are best for establishing social presence. We investigated student perceptions of various strategies of establishing and maintaining social presence using a mixed methods case study approach in two different fully online courses. Results suggest that students are more interested in connecting with their instructor than their peers; different students like different social presence strategies; and students have different overall social presence needs. Various strategies and implications for practice are addressed throughout.

Can we use Facebook groups to establish social presence in online courses?

In this research, the potential of Facebook groups used in an online course in order to establish social presence was examined. Qualitative research methodology was used in this study. The participants of the study were 12 senior undergraduate students taking the School Experience course online over a period of 12 weeks. A Facebook group where announcements and deep discussions were made and files were shared was used. Facebook group posts as document data; and student interviews as interview data were collected. According to the results, it was found that Facebook groups established social presence. Social presence involves three categories; affective expression, open communication and group cohesion. Paralanguage, emotion, humor and self-disclosure emerged as indicators in the affective expression category. Acknowledgement, agreement, invitation and continuing a thread were found as indicators in the open communication category. Greetings and salutations, vocatives, group reference, social sharing and collaboration were found as indicators in the group cohesion category. A similar study can be conducted by collecting quantitative data from a large number of participants using the social presence scale. Other social networks’ potentials to establish social presence can be examined. Since Facebook groups establish social presence, they can be used to support online or face-to-face courses.
 Keywords: community of inquiry; Facebook; Facebook group; online course; social presence

Beyond Social Presence: Facelessness and the Ethics of Asynchronous Online Education

In this position paper, I argue that a focus on achieving and increasing social presence in online courses tends to derail a consideration of the ethical implications and dimensions of the essential facelessness of asynchronous education. Drawing upon the work of Emmanuel Levinas and Nel Noddings, who contended that the face is the basis of caring, ethical relations, I explore what it means for human relations, education, and society in general that learners increasingly come face-to-face with screens rather than with embodied, different others.

An analysis of instructor social presence in online text and asynchronous video feedback comments

Online and blended instructors are increasingly providing student feedback via asynchronous video, and students have reported in previous research that they are better able to perceive their instructors' social presence in video as compared to text. However, research is lacking that examines actual feedback comments for indicators of social presence. We addressed this gap by coding for indicators of social presence in 422 text and asynchronous video feedback comments provided to preservice teachers in three blended and online courses. Minimal differences were found in the frequency of social presence indicators between text and video feedback. However, we warn against interpreting this finding too simplistically. While text and video feedback had similar numbers of indicators, the indicators in video feedback may have had a larger impact on social presence due to the richness of the medium. Further research is needed in order to understand how text and video feedback promote social presence in online courses.

Social presence in online courses. Presuppositions, perspectives and interpretations of humor

This paper focuses on the ways in which social presence is realized in online learning, with a special attention on humor. The technological development brought with it many improvements and facilities in almost every area of human activities, but also produced many other losses. In the educational domain, computer-mediated communication came with the challenge to substitute or at least to complement face-to-face interaction with the online interactivity. In this context, the amplitude and the forms of classical teaching tools were constantly re-evaluated or redesigned. The place of spontaneity in the new educational context was discussed in deep and polarized ways. From the assessments such as the online is not the proper medium for humor to the opposite ideas, the entire area of theoretical positioning has been elaborated in the literature. The paper emphasises on some of the most important presuppositions, limitations, and benefits of these concepts applied to the online environment.

Video lecture format, student technological efficacy, and social presence in online courses

Online platforms are frequently used as an alternative environment for individuals to meet and engage in a variety of activities, like attending courses online. We examined the effect of adding social presence cues in online video lectures and technological efficacy on college students’ perceived learning, class social presence, and perception that the videos aided learning. Participants rated their technological efficacy and completed an online class with video lectures that either included the video (image) of the instructor or not. The interaction between technological efficacy and video manipulation predicted lower ratings of perceived learning, social presence, and video usefulness, particularly for students with lower technological efficacy. A mediated-moderation analysis showed that, the interaction between person (efficacy) and media (instructor image in video vs. no image) predicted greater perceived learning through the mediators of perceived usefulness of videos, class interactivity, and felt comfort in the class.