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Social Presence and Implications for Designing Online Learning Communities. Charlotte N. (Lani) Gunawardena, Ph.D. Professor University of New Mexico, USA. Fourth International Conference on Educational Technology July 31 - August 3, 2005, Nanchang, China.
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Social Presence and Implications for Designing Online Learning Communities Charlotte N. (Lani) Gunawardena, Ph.D. Professor University of New Mexico, USA Fourth International Conference on Educational Technology July 31 - August 3, 2005, Nanchang, China
“When three of us are walking together, I am sure to have a teacher. I'd select his merits to follow, and his demerits to correct myself”. ------Tianlatio 1989 Confucius(孔子)The father of group learning in China
Define “Social Presence” and review research Discuss study on social presence and learner satisfaction in online learning (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997) Report preliminary results of study in Morocco and Sri Lanka on cultural perspectives on social presence (Gunawardena, Bouachrine, Idrissi, & Jayatileke, 2005) Draw implications for designing online learning communities Purpose
Immediacy (psychological distance of communicator, differs in same medium) Non-verbally: Formality of dress Verbally: Aloofness Intimacy (SP of Medium, differs in different media) TV vs. Audio Non-verbal cues Social Presence (SP) Degree to which a person is perceived as a “real person” in mediated communication
the degree to which a person feels “socially present” in mediated communication links to the larger social context of an online environment including: interaction group cohesion verbal and non-verbal communication attitudes and motivation social equality, etc. What We Know About Social Presence Social presence …
Significant factor in improving satisfaction (Hackman & Walker, 1990; Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997) Can be cultured (Johansen et. al. 1988) • Users develop techniques to overcome absence of social context cues: • Emoticons :-) :-( ;-) • Metalinguistic cues: “hmmm” “yuk” What We Know About Social Presence Social presence …
Ongoing Research on Social Presence Social Presence and Interactivity: How are they related?(Rafaeli, 1988, 1990) Social Presence Subjective measure of the presence of others Interactivity The “quality” of the communication sequence or context
Can highly interactive virtual environments evoke a sense of social presence? (Lombard & Ditton, 1997) e.g. research on pedagogical agents Are there cultural differences in the perceptions of social presence? (Tu 2001, Gunawardena et al. 2001, Gunawardena, et al. 2005) How do we measure social presence? (Rourke, Anderson, Garrison & Archer 2001, Kreijns & Jochems, 2003) Ongoing Research on Social Presence
How effective is SP as a predictor of learner satisfaction? Study CMC from a social-relational perspective Study: Social Presence and Learner Satisfaction Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997
Study: Results Model 2 Independent Variables Model 1 Dependent Variable Social Presence 60% 58% Learner Satisfaction 6% 6% Equal 70% 75% Tech 4% 6% Attitude 5% Active Barriers Capable Trained
Study: The Effects of Emoticon Use 50 40 Satisfaction 30 20 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 I intentionally used emoticons to express my feelings ___ SP High ---- SP Low Note: Social Presence artificially dichotomized at medium for clarity.
How can social presence be described from the sociocultural context of Morocco and Sri Lanka? What are the dimensions that comprise the construct “social presence in these two sociocultural contexts? Study: Cultural Perspectives on Social Presence Gunawardena, Bouachrine, Idrissi, Jayatileke, 2005 & ongoing Method: Qualitative study using grounded theory methods (Glaser & Strauss 1967, & Strauss & Corbin 1994) Individual and focus group interviews
Cultural Perspectives On SP - Results 2005 Social Presence - emerged as a central phenomenon in communication patterns of Internet chat users - “realness” of the other, and own persona Social Presence is related to: a) building trust, b) process of identity revelation, c) resolution of conflict, d) interpretation of silence, and the e) innovation of language forms to generate immediacy.
S C R P N E E E Smilies :-) Reinforcement Praising, Personalizing Encouragement Names Experiences Comfort Evaluative Feedback Presence Oh please, Talk to me! C MC
Virtual Pubs & Cyber Cafes Introductions (self-disclosure) Moderators creating a sense of community & being there Formats for interaction - story telling, experiences Virtual costume party Photo gallery of class members & instructor Real time interaction – chats, teleconferences Online social techniques – e.g. emoticons, metalinguistic cues Social Presence & Building Online Community
Metaphor for Community Building: In Keresan Pueblo communities of New Mexico giftedness is defined as an individual’s ability to contribute to the good of the community (Romero & Schultz, 1994) Community, Collaboration, and Interaction must become central in course design Assessment must reward collaboration, contribution to community, and products developed within the community FOCAL instructional design model - Gunawardena, et al. 2004 Developing an Online Community
Wisdom Community Transformational Learning Knowledge Innovation Mentoring Support FOCAL MODEL
Thank You For questions, contact <lani@unm.edu>