“Social presence, ” the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected one to another, has been shown to be an important factor in student satisfaction and success in online courses. This mixed methods study built on previous research to explore in greater depth the nature of social presence and how it develops in online course discussions. The study combined quantitative analyses of survey results from students enrolled in four online graduate courses, and qualitative comparisons of students with the highest and lowest perceptions of social presence. Quantitative results revealed significant correlations between perceived social presence and satisfaction with online discussions, and teased apart the respective influences of the perceived presence of instructors and peers. The findings indicate that the perceived presence of instructors may be a more influential factor in determining student satisfaction than the perceived presence of peers. Correlations with other course and learner characteristics suggest that course design may also significantly affect the development of social presence. Qualitative findings support the quantitative results. In addition, they provide evidence that students perceiving the highest social presence also projected themselves more into online discussions, and reveal meaningful differences in perceptions of the usefulness and purpose of online discussion between students perceiving high and low social presence.

This paper builds on the model we have developed for creating quality online learning environments for higher education. In that model we argue that college-level online learning needs to reflect what we know about learning in general, what we understand about learning in higher-education contexts, and our emerging knowledge of learning in largely asynchronous online environments. Components of the model include a focus on learner roles, knowledge building, assessment, community, and various forms of “presence. ” In this paper we focus on two components—teaching presence and community—and review the rationale and benefits for an emphasis on community in online learning environments. We argue that learning is social in nature and that online learning environments can be designed to reflect and leverage the social nature of learning. We suggest that previous research points to the critical role that community can play in building and sustaining productive learning and that teaching presence, defined as the core roles of the online instructor, is among the most promising mechanism for developing online learning community. We present a multi-institutional study of 2,036 students across thirty-two different colleges that supports this claim and provides insight into the relationship between online learning community and teaching presence. Factor and regression analysis indicate a significant link between students ’ sense of

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The purpose of this research was to investigate how various distance-learning technologies affect student learning in a high-level course in the military. This training comprised three phases: asynchronous, synchronous, and residential instruction. Initial site visits indicated that this course was extensively planned and supported. At the end of one training course experience, two focus groups of students, as well as three instructors and the course advisor, were interviewed about their on-line experiences. Each group mentioned distinct advantages and disadvantages of the different components of the course. For example, on-line learning appeared to allow for greater and timelier feedback, authentic and meaningful learning, problem-solving, communication, and convenience. At the same time, participants noted several problems including the lack of learning management system flexibility, technology downtime, and overwhelming tool choices and content to learn. They also felt that the time commitments of the program resulted in many students dropping out of the program. Ten key Web-based instruction

The online discussion forum is the main mode of interaction for Web-based learning. Existing online instructional management systems contain primitive discussion tools that do little to facilitate online interaction and collaborative discourse. This paper proposes the design of a new type of software – the TextWeaver ™ – to meet these needs. In particular, we illustrate improved design in four areas: reading and composing, message keywording and weaving, material storing and reusing, and working offline. The paper starts with an overview of existing network-based educational systems and discusses software design considerations for networked computers and related pedagogical principles. This is followed by a description of the proposed design of the TextWeaver ™ and a discussion of its pedagogical implications. We conclude with a discussion of evaluation strategies for the software, future directions for research, and a summary of our conclusions.

This paper examines the learning behavior of online students in an asynchronous learning environment. We employ the theoretical lens of an online community of inquiry, to understand how students build an understanding of course concepts as part of an online community of learning. Findings are presented from a study of an online, graduate University course. Student behavior was analyzed to investigate the detailed learning strategies employed by various students. An e-learning framework was devised, that identifies various types of behavior, each of which is associated with the distinct needs of an online learning process. We conclude with the reflection that we may need many different types of course interactions for different types of learning role.

Although the potential of asynchronous discussion to support learning is widely recognized, student engagement remains problematic. Often, for example, students simply refuse to participate. Consequently the rich promise of asynchronous learning networks for supporting students ’ learning can prove hard to achieve. After reviewing strategies for encouraging student participation in discussions in Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), we present a study that investigates how these strategies influenced students’ perceptions and use of the discussion area. We identify and explore factors that encouraged and inhibited student participation in asynchronous discussion, and evaluate student postings to an asynchronous discussion group by content analysis. The results question received wisdom about some of the pedagogic techniques advocated in the literature. Instead, results support the view that the major factors for stimulating student participation in asynchronous discussion are tutor enthusiasm and expertise. It appears that the tutor may be the root cause of engagement in discussions, an important conclusion, given that to date, the tutor’s role has remained relatively unexamined. We also note that participation in asynchronous discussion is inhibited

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Investigating patterns of interaction in networked

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT/SOLICITATION NO./CLOSING DATE/if not in response to a program announcement/solicitation enter NSF 07-140