The Influence of Social Presence on Students’ Satisfaction toward Online Course

Students’ satisfaction plays a vital role in ensuring effective online learning. This study investigated the association between social presence and students’ satisfaction toward online discussions in Learning Management System (LMS) platform conducted at a private university in Malaysia. Both correlation and two-step hierarchical linear regression were performed to analyze the online survey data. The instruments used to measure the summated scores of social presence and satisfaction were Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and satisfaction scale, respectively. The results revealed that the correlation between both variables was significantly positive. Students who declared relatively high level of satisfaction were more likely to report high level of interaction with their peers in online conversation and high level of social presence. Essentially, social presence seemed to contribute the most in predicting the level of course satisfaction amongst the students

Online and open for business

Building academic's capacity in eLearning skills and establishing social and tele-presence are the foundation of the Bachelor of Business online program at James Cook University. This session will demonstrate social constructivism pedagogy at work and how to engage students and academics in an online program. It was important that Business Online was not just another online learning program which placed information online using the internet as a blackboard. The program had to engage, support and build a student's cognitive capacity and academic engagement. The program sought to create an elearning experience for the students through consistency, ease of navigation, student support, orientate students and develop a sense of belongingness. The program is underpinned by Social Constructivism and sits within the BlackBoard Learning Management System (LMS). The academics endeavoured to create social presence through the establishment of learning communities and tele-presence through online BB Collaborate tutorials and weekly recorded video introductions. Academics in the School of Business had to rethink their educational practice and this sometimes required a paradigm shift from instructionalism to social constructivism design. The aim was to create an eLearning experience for our students to engage with their learning through the establishment of a social and telepresence. The program worked closely with the academics to build capacity in learning technologies. Through weekly lunchtime hand on workshops called ‘Technology Tuesday’ different technologies were introduced to the academics and discussion focussed on there application to an educational setting. The program also identified the need for an online student assistant to support students in the online elearning environment. The Online Learning Developer and the online student assistant assist students with technical issues, test student equipment and online conference with the student. Online student orientation sessions were held in face to face sessions as well as online. These orientation sessions introduced students to the elearning environment, organised system checks and demonstrated how the program would operate. A recent survey identified that some students were experiencing isolation and missed the interaction with other students. The program is now developing a Facebook group for the students to engage and is also working on how to use the discussion board more effectively to enhance social presence within the online program. This is a work in progress. Overall the program seeks to create a positive eLearning experience for both the student and the lecturer

Investigating design features of a computer-mediated communication system

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is increasingly used in higher education, but it is not without problems. The effectiveness of CMC depends on many factors, including the characteristics of CMC systems themselves. The research reported here therefore aimed to investigate how an educational CMC system might be improved, in order to support learning more effectively. The main context for the research was distance learning at the UK Open University (OU). A two-stage, mixed methods research approach was adopted. In the first stage, interviews and observations were carried out to explore the benefits and problems experienced by users. This revealed two major issues: information overload and lack of social presence. Information overload relates to users’ problems dealing with large numbers of messages. Social presence relates to the need for users to feel connected with each other. The second stage investigated system features aimed at addressing these issues, implemented in a prototype computer conferencing system. Features to address overload included branched message threading and user recommendations. Features to address social presence were ‘résumés’ and instant messaging. These features were evaluated using questionnaires, with several cohorts of students in an OU course. Students expressed approval of the features, although some features were not widely used. Students preferred branched threading to chronological threading because branching helped them to follow ‘conversations’. Students were uncomfortable recommending messages, feeling that the value of a message would vary between people. They were also uncomfortable using instant messaging to contact others whom they did not know. However, the awareness aspect of instant messaging provided a sense of solidarity. The research demonstrated that the problems of overload and lack of social presence are significant, and each has social aspects which must be addressed. Students’ relationships with each other affect whether and how they use the features of CMC systems. We can conclude that particular attention must be paid to the social aspects of online communication, both when designing educational CMC systems and when considering how they are used. To maximise the benefits for learning, students need to feel comfortable with each other online, and there are few short cuts to achieving this

The promise and perils of asynchronous learning: how faculty, students, and administrators can collaboratively increase retention and satisfaction in the online classroom

This paper explores some of the major challenges faced by faculty, students, administrators, and support staff in retaining online students, and doing so while earning high marks for the quality of each course. A number of strategies are explored beginning with the need to carefully consider effective mixes of technology, structure, and content in the classroom environment. With an emphasis on social presence and careful consideration of how students use technology to access the class learning management system (LMS), the paper offers a variety of options to build classroom spaces that foster a sense of community and collaboration. Thereafter the paper addresses best practices to turn well‐ considered design elements into a classroom experience which addresses issues related to retention, achieving learning outcomes, and ensuring students and faculty invest in the learning process from day one. By addressing concerns shared by the major actors in the field of online education, realistic best practices can be identified to help ensure online learning achieves, if not exceeds, retention and satisfaction levels seen from brick‐and‐mortar classrooms

High School Students' Perceptions of Online Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic on The Aceh Mountains

High school learning changed from traditional (face-to-face) learning to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students' perceptions of learning are one of the supporting factors for successful learning, including online learning. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of high school students towards online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and what learning media they like the most. This online survey research will explore high school students' perceptions of online learning that has taken place, for data discussion to answer research problems, a descriptive approach was used.. The research respondents were 592 students from 2 districts in the mountains of Aceh, namely Central Aceh and Bener Meriah. The results showed that high school students gave a poor perception of online learning; the learning media that students liked was the WhatsApp application. Students' loneliness causes this perception. Due to a lack of "social presence", social media as a learning medium is one solution to these problems, students choose social media to build a collaborative learning environment. Social media should be used as a learning medium, to reduce boredom due to lack of learning interaction. From the results of the research found, it appears that there is a need for improvements to the ongoing online learning system

Searching For Predictors Of Success In Community College Online Courses

The continuous growth of online learning in higher education has created a demand for more sections of more course offerings than ever before, particularly true in the community college system. Online courses can meet the needs of students who are unable to enroll in traditional courses because of outside conflicts such as work, family, class schedule or distance from the institution. Many of these students enroll in online courses with no way of knowing if they can persist or be successful in the online learning environment. This lack of knowledge has caused many students to fail or withdraw. The problem addressed in this study is the need to find predictors of persistence (completion of course) and success (performance grade of “C” or higher) for online community college students.Employing a quantitative research design and examining logistic regressions to determine if externally validated instruments measuring levels of self-efficacy, and social presence could be significant in predicting persistence and success for students enrolled in online coursework. The findings showed that measurements of learner self-efficacies were valid predictors of persistence, and that technology self-efficacy predicted both persistence and success. However, the findings showed measurements of social presence were insignificant

How Student Perceptions of the Online Learning Environment and Student Motivation Predict Persistence, Completion, and Retention in Developmental Mathematics Courses

Online developmental mathematics courses have high dropout rates. The focus of this study is to improve understanding of how students’ perceptions of the online learning environment and student motivation from course design predict student drop out. This understanding will benefit faculty and institutions on student support for online developmental mathematics students. The study included 330 undergraduate students enrolled in online developmental mathematics courses during the Fall 2018 semester at eight public universities and colleges in the Utah State Higher Education (USHE) system. Participants completed a survey with questions measuring their perceptions of the learning environment. They also completed a survey to measure student motivations toward their online mathematics coursework. Participants’ answers were tied to data measuring course persistence, completion, and retention. The researcher used statistical analysis methods to generate findings. The time-to-completion and regression analysis showed two things. The degree to which a student perceives that he or she can succeed at the coursework (self-efficacy) predicted student course persistence and completion in online developmental mathematics. Also, the ability of participants to identify with the online community (social presence) predicted student course persistence and completion in online developmental mathematics. The analysis on student retention did not show any significant results. This finding suggests that efforts and interventions geared towards building student self-efficacy and designing more social presence interactions may have the potential to increase course completion rates in online developmental mathematics coursework. Building self-efficacy in online developmental mathematics coursework,and a positive support group of fellow classmates through social presence, has the potential to give students the tools necessary to successfully navigate their own learning

Social presence in online learning communities

Tools for online communication are increasingly used in education, but they are not without problems. One significant difficulty is a lack of social presence. Social presence relates to the need for users to feel connected with each other and to perceive each other as real people. Low social presence can be a particular problem in text-based asynchronous systems such as discussion forums. These do not offer visual or auditory cues to communication, and there can be long delays between messages. This can lead to feelings of impersonality, and hence disengagement from online learning. The more recent literature on social presence suggests that it is influenced by the behaviour and interactions of participants, as well as by the characteristics of the communication medium. Learners in an online community can therefore increase social presence by communicating in ways which are perceived as 'warm' or 'sociable', and can compensate for the lack of richness of the medium. Moreover, features of communication systems can be used to encourage these types of interactions, and to ease communication. For example: use of member profiles can help participants feel that they know each other better; and use of synchronous communication can avoid frustrating delays between messages and responses. These possibilities, which are advocated in the research literature, also emerged from interviews carried out with students at the UK Open University. These interviews aimed to explore students' experiences of using online communication in a distance learning course, and their ideas for improvements to online communication systems for learning. The interviews revealed problems, such as poor communication and misunderstandings, associated with a lack of social presence. Students highlighted system features that they found useful, or would like to have available, which would help to address these issues. In particular, they suggested that increased use of member profiles would help them get to know each other better, and that synchronous communication tools such as instant messaging would be of practical and social value. It is concluded that social presence in online learning communities can be enhanced by changes to the design and use of communication systems, together with attention to styles of communication within these environments

The Influence of Social Presence on Students’ Satisfaction toward Online Course

Students’ satisfaction plays a vital role in ensuring effective online learning. This study investigated the association between social presence and students’ satisfaction toward online discussions in Learning Management System (LMS) platform conducted at a private university in Malaysia. Both correlation and two-step hierarchical linear regression were performed to analyze the online survey data. The instruments used to measure the summated scores of social presence and satisfaction were Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and satisfaction scale, respectively. The results revealed that the correlation between both variables was significantly positive. Students who declared relatively high level of satisfaction were more likely to report high level of interaction with their peers in online conversation and high level of social presence. Essentially, social presence seemed to contribute the most in predicting the level of course satisfaction amongst the students.</p

Effective Online Instruction Through the Community of Inquiry Framework: An Exploratory Study in Kinesiology

Background: During the previous decade, online education has become an increasingly popular form of instruction in higher education and has displayed a greater growth rate. The proliferation of online course delivery demonstrates the undeniable impact that this teaching modality has on the realm of higher education including kinesiology. As educators in the field of kinesiology begin implementing online education in various forms, they face several challenges including technological issues and pedagogical concerns. However, online education currently receives very little attention in kinesiology literature, and discipline-specific online pedagogy is still quite rare. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine online kinesiology courses. The community of inquiry model (CoI; Garrison, Archer, & Anderson, 2000) serves as the theoretical framework for this study. The following research questions guide this study: (a) What are the instructors’ intentions toward successful online teaching? (b) How are the content components organized within the learning management system? and (c) What are students’ perceptions on their online learning experience? Method: This study adopted a multiple case study approach within a mixed-methods design in order to investigate online kinesiology courses. Six instructors and 79 students who were enrolled in the online courses participated in this study. Data were collected using the community of inquiry survey (Arbaugh et al., 2008), Learning Management System (LMS) analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Results: According to instructors’ CoI survey scores, the instructional intentions to the aspects of teaching and cognitive presence were high, whereas social presence remained at a low level. Across all six courses, instructors planned for different types of learning activities that initiated a diverse range of students’ engagement levels. According to the LMS analysis, the expository category represents the largest portion of these learning activities followed by the active learning and interactive learning. In terms of student survey results, students expressed a positive learning perception within their online learning experience. Discussion: This study provides initial evidence to support the need for training and mentoring of higher education professors in designing online instructional settings. It is important for instructors to recognize the value of students’ engagement within their online instructional settings, and design specific expository learning activities that lead to active and interactive learning