Distance Learning - Part 3 Social Presence

Social presence allows for a connection between individuals that empowers the people involved. For the learner and the teacher to both be successful in the learning experience, social presence in online learning must be clearly evident and robust.  “Social presence has been seen as conceptually and empirically linked to the quality of the online learning, including levels of student participation, satisfaction and student engagement” according to Kia Bentley in her paper The Centrality of Social Presence in Online Teaching and Learning.  

In The Power of Social Presence, it was noted that "faculty and student satisfaction plays a key role in retention rates and because increased social presence often leads to an enriched learning experience, it is advantageous for organizations to support faculty as they integrate social presence into learning environments" (Whiteside, 2014).

If social presence is a key component for an online learning module, a Learning Management System (LMS) needs to function as a conduit for the social presence between the educator and the students.  In order to promote social presence, several strategies or key features need to be in place for an LMS to build and maintain social presence. 

Edmodo, Lore and Schoology promote social presence in upper elementary and middle school with key features such as: 

• classroom management
• creating personal profiles
• collecting assignments
• posting group discussions
• providing self-service learning. 

Canvas and Teamie seem to be similar to Blackboard and function well for higher academic levels such as, high school, collegiate or graduate. These LMS’s are social based platforms that “facilitate easy communication, discussions, sophisticated learning opportunities, content distribution/sharing, etc” (Goel, 2013).  

Kia Bentley suggests three elements in her paper The Centrality of Social Presence in Online Teaching and Learning, that interact in complex ways to create a successful online community learning experience: teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence. All three elements must work together to create a meaningful connectivity and learning experience for both the student and the educator. Teaching presence and cognitive presence are readily understood by the experienced teacher. However, it is “social presence, along with cognitive and teaching presence, that must be well-established for student engagement in online learning course” (Dunlap, 2009). 

Without social presence the new technology teacher, in an online module, will probably learn the material from the instructor (teaching presence) and have head knowledge (cognitive presence) but active participation and engagement will be lost. That will make all the difference to the success and satisfaction of the learner. "Social presence can maximize the reification and participation in the online learning process. Cultivating supportive online learning environments is an art that begins with nurturing connectedness and community through social presence" (Whiteside, 2014).

Bentley, Kia  . "The  Centrality  of  Social  Presence  in  Online  Teaching and Learning." VCU.Edu. Virginia of Commonwealth University, 14 May 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Cavazza, Fred. "Social Presence Tools." Flickr. Yahoo!, 6 Apr. 2008. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.

Dunlap, Joanna C., and Patrick R. Lowenthal. "Tweeting the Night Away: Using Twitter to Enhance Social Presence."Journal of Information Systems Education 20.2 (2009): 129-35. 

Goel, Vivek. "LMSs and More: Drupal in Education." LMSs and More: Drupal in Education. Fourword, 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Pacansky-Brock, Michelle. "What Is the Value of Social Presence in Online Learning?" YouTube. YouTube, 277 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Whiteside, Aimee. "The Power of Social Presence for Learning (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu." The Power of Social Presence for Learning (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu., 19 May 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.