Mechanizing People and Pedagogy: Establishing Social Presence in the Online Classroom

Authors

  • Jennifer M. Cunningham Kent State University at Stark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v19i3.476

Keywords:

Social presence, distance learning, avatar, Web 2.0, composition, pedagogy

Abstract

This research addresses the affordances of using Voki avatars to create a sense of social presence in an asynchronous online writing classroom setting. Digital media afford online educators the opportunity to harness different technologies and new ways of being in a digital classroom that can enhance student engagement in ways similar to yet unlike face-to-face instruction, but this current research questions the effectiveness of these technologies. Original data was obtained from forty students in an online writing course who responded to open-ended questions about their perception of social presence. This study reiterates the importance of establishing social presence in an online course, but suggests students may find specific Web 2.0 technology less effective than other pedagogical methods.

Author Biography

Jennifer M. Cunningham, Kent State University at Stark

Jennifer M. Cunningham is an assistant professor of English at Kent State University at Stark. Her main area of study is digital African American language as it is used among interlocutors who communicate via social network sites and short messaging services.

References

Aragon, S. R. (2003). Creating social presence in online environments. In Aragon, S. R. (Ed.),

New directions for adult and continuing education: Facilitating learning in online environments, (Vol. 100, pp. 57-68). Hoboken, NY: Wiley.

Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. New York: Free Press.

Garrison, D. R. (2007). Online community of inquiry review: Social, cognitive, and teaching presence issues. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(1), 61-72.

Gee, J. P., & Hayes, E. R. (2011). Language and learning in the digital age. New York: Routledge.

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.

Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a

computer-mediated conferencing environment. The American Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 8-26.

Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.

Inman, J. A. (2004). Computers and writing: The cyborg era. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Ke, F. (2010). Examining online teaching, cognitive, and social presence for adult students. Computers and Education, 55, 808-820.

Kim, J., Kwon, Y., & Cho, D. (2011). Investigating factors that influence social presence and learning outcomes in distance higher education. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1512-1520.

Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. New York: Routledge.

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Landow, G. P. (1992). Hypertext 3.0: Critical theory and new media in an era of globalization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP.

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2008). New literacies: Everyday practices & classroom learning, 2nd Ed. New York: Open University Press.

Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Richardson, J. C. and K. Swan. (2003). Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students' perceived learning and satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(1): 68–88.

Self, C. L. (2007). Multimodal composition: Resources for teachers. Cresskill: Hampton Press, Inc.

Short, J. E., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The Social Psychology of Telecommunications, 65. Toronto: Wiley.

Schunk, D. H., Pintrich, P. R. & Meece, J. (2008). Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Stacey, E. (2002). Social presence online: Networking learners at a distance. Education and Information Technologies, 7(4), 287-294.

Sung, E., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Five facets of social presence in online distance education. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 1738-1747.

Tu, C. H., & McIssac, M. (2002). Relationship of social presence and interaction in online classes. The Journal of Distance Education, 16(3), 131-150.

Tyner, K. (1998). Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Walther, J. (1994). Interpersonal effects in computer mediated interaction. Communication Research, 21(4): 460–487.

Wei, C., Chen, N., & Kinshuk. (2012). A model for social presence in online classrooms. Education Technology Research and Development, 60, 529-545.

Wysocki, A. F., Johnson-Eilola, J., Selfe, C. L., & Sirce, G. (2004). Writing new media: Theory and applications for expanding the teaching of composition. Logan: Utah State UP.

Downloads

Published

2015-02-09

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 3 (2015)

Section

Community of Inquiry, Avatars, and Video

License

As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.

Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions