Impact of showing a male instructor’s face on female students’ perceived social presence, satisfaction, and comprehension in distance education in a conservative, gender-segregated culture

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were forced to turn to online classes that are either recorded or taught live on virtual meeting platforms. Students could, therefore, attend classes from virtually any location using their mobile devices and Internet access. Despite the prolonged pandemic, little attention has been paid to whether offering courses on a virtual meeting platform is sustainable. This study, therefore, explores the antecedents of students’ intentions regarding the sustained use of virtual meeting platforms for academic courses. We investigated the relationship between technology readiness (TR) and perceived social presence (SP) within a virtual communication setting with course satisfaction and sustained use intention. Data were collected via a survey from 525 college students in South Korea who had attended classes using a virtual meeting platform. Serial mediation analysis revealed a pathway in which SP and course satisfaction in series fully mediate the positive relationship between technology readiness and sustainability. This study discusses the implications in relation to the sustainability of virtual technology-based courses as a replacement of live classroom-based courses from a user perspective. Further research is needed to understand users’ negative experiences of attending courses on virtual meeting platforms.

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Meeting of minds: Narratives as a tool to reduce prejudice toward stigmatized group members

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/13684302211012783 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136843022110127

Author(s):

Nuri Kim ◽

Cuimin Lim

Keyword(s):

Social Presence ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

First Person ◽

Narrative Texts ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Narrative Perspective ◽

Third Person ◽

Perceived Social Presence ◽

Group Members

This study investigates a mechanism of mediated intergroup contact effects that occurs through experiencing social presence of a stigmatized outgroup character. Conceiving narrative texts as a context for mediated intergroup contact, we experimentally test ( N = 505) the effects of narrative perspective (first vs. third person) and the photograph of the outgroup protagonist (present vs. absent) on perceived social presence of the outgroup character. We further test whether experiencing the outgroup protagonist as socially present affects intergroup outcomes (i.e., perspective-taking, intergroup anxiety, outgroup knowledge, and outgroup attitudes). Findings indicate that first-person narratives are more effective than third-person narratives in inducing social presence of the stigmatized outgroup character; photos, unexpectedly, did not have such an effect. Social presence, in turn, plays a key role in facilitating positive intergroup outcomes from reading online narrative texts. The implications of our findings are discussed.

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I will stand by you: Measuring the perceived Social Presence towards Semi-Autonomous Companions in a 2D game

10.1145/3450337.3483488 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick Brandstätter ◽

Sarah Hagmann ◽

Daniela Krückl ◽

Martina Maurer ◽

Michael Lankes

Keyword(s):

Social Presence ◽

Perceived Social Presence

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Case Study

Educational Recommender Systems and Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-489-5.ch011 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 258-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Juha Leino

Keyword(s):

Social Behavior ◽

Social Presence ◽

Questionnaire Data ◽

Undergraduate Level ◽

Reading Materials ◽

Student Questionnaire ◽

E Learning ◽

Perceived Social Presence ◽

New Challenges

As recommender systems are making inroads to e-learning, the new ecosystem is placing new challenges on them. This Chapter discusses the author’s experiences of adding recommender features to additional reading materials listing page in an undergraduate-level course. Discussion is based on use-log and student questionnaire data. Students could both add materials to lecture readings and peer-evaluate the pertinence of the materials by rating and commenting them. Students were required to add one material and rate five as part of the course requirements. Overall, students perceived the system as useful and did not resent compulsoriness. In addition, perceived social presence promoted social behavior in many students. However, many students rated materials without viewing them, thus undermining the reliability of aggregated ratings. Consequently, while recommenders can enhance the e-learner experience, they need to be robust against some students trying to get points without earning them.

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The Influence of Social Presence, Social Exchange and Feedback Features on SNS Continuous Use

Journal of Organizational and End User Computing ◽

10.4018/joeuc.2016040103 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 33-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mustapha Cheikh-Ammar ◽

Henri Barki

Keyword(s):

Social Exchange ◽

Social Presence ◽

Online Survey ◽

Perceived Usefulness ◽

Attitudes And Beliefs ◽

Design Elements ◽

Perceived Social Presence ◽

Continuous Use ◽

Practical Implications

Social network sites (SNS) are venues for information sharing that provide a variety of communication features capable of stirring emotions, attitudes and beliefs. This paper highlights the role of SNS feedback features and the meanings they communicate to their users, as design elements capable of enhancing the SNS experience. Based on the theories of Social Presence and Social Exchange, the study suggests and empirically validates a research model where Feedback, Perceived Social Presence, Attitude, Enjoyment and Perceived Usefulness are hypothesized to explain intentions to continue to use an SNS. The results of an online survey of 262 Facebook users found that feedback features were central SNS components that influenced perceptions of social presence and enjoyment, which in turn, along with attitude and perceived usefulness, influenced intentions to continue using Facebook, explaining 55% of its variance. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

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