Othering in online learning: an examination of social presence, identity, and sense of community

Author(s):  
Krystle Phirangee ◽  
Alesia Malec
Author(s):  
Billi L. Bromer

Technology alone cannot create the sense of community that is needed for effective online learning. Participants in an online environment can perceive a sense of isolation when social connectedness is not created and encouraged. A community of inquiry emerges when online participants perceive that they are seen and heard and opportunities for active engagement with others is provided. This chapter provides guiding principles for an effective online experience and includes multiple suggestions from an experienced online instructor to create and maintain the social presence of all participants in any online learning experience.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 221258682110070
Author(s):  
Ka Ho Mok ◽  
Weiyan Xiong ◽  
Hamzah Nor Bin Aedy Rahman

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced online teaching and learning to be the primary instruction format in higher education globally. One of the worrying concerns about online learning is whether this method is effective, specifically when compared to face-to-face classes. This descriptive quantitative study investigates how students in higher education institutions in Hong Kong evaluated their online learning experiences during the pandemic, including the factors influencing their digital learning experiences. By analysing the survey responses from 1,227 university students in Hong Kong, this study found that most of the respondents felt dissatisfied with their online learning experiences and effectiveness. Meanwhile, this study confirms that respondents’ household income level and information technology literacy affected their online learning effectiveness. Moreover, this study highlights the significant contributions of the community of inquiry, which places social presence on the promotion of a whole person development that could not be achieved when relying mainly on online learning. Findings encourage university leaders and instructors to search for multiple course delivery modes to nurture students to become caring leaders with the 21st century skills and knowledge set.


Author(s):  
Montgomery Van Wart ◽  
Anna Ni ◽  
Pamela Medina ◽  
Jesus Canelon ◽  
Melika Kordrostami ◽  
...  

AbstractThis article reports on a large-scale (n = 987), exploratory factor analysis study incorporating various concepts identified in the literature as critical success factors for online learning from the students’ perspective, and then determines their hierarchical significance. Seven factors--Basic Online Modality, Instructional Support, Teaching Presence, Cognitive Presence, Online Social Comfort, Online Interactive Modality, and Social Presence--were identified as significant and reliable. Regression analysis indicates the minimal factors for enrollment in future classes—when students consider convenience and scheduling—were Basic Online Modality, Cognitive Presence, and Online Social Comfort. Students who accepted or embraced online courses on their own merits wanted a minimum of Basic Online Modality, Teaching Presence, Cognitive Presence, Online Social Comfort, and Social Presence. Students, who preferred face-to-face classes and demanded a comparable experience, valued Online Interactive Modality and Instructional Support more highly. Recommendations for online course design, policy, and future research are provided.


Author(s):  
Farhat Munir ◽  
Aizza Anwar ◽  
Daisy Mui Hung Kee

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of students to stay indoors and adapt to the new normal, namely distance learning at home, placing online learning in the spotlight. However, students’ motivation for online learning and its effectiveness in skill development during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been widely studied. This study examined the relationship between students’ fear of COVID-19 and students’ social presence in online learning while investigating the parallel mediating role of student psychological motivation and cognitive problem-solving skills related to online learning. The participants were 472 university students in Malaysia and Pakistan. An online data collection technique using Google Forms was employed. Faculty members of the universities were asked to share the survey with their students. Moreover, using a snowball sampling technique, students were requested to share the survey with their friends. SPSS Statistics (Version 21)  was employed to do preliminary data analysis, AMOS (Version 21) software was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis using a maximum likelihood estimation, and Hayes’ PROCESS model was used to examine proposed hypotheses. The results show that only cognitive problem solving mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and students’ social presence in online learning in Malaysian samples. In Pakistan, cognitive problem solving and psychological motivation mediate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and students’ social presence in online learning. The study found that developing cognitive problem-solving skills and providing psychological motivation could enhance their engagement with online learning.


Author(s):  
Bei Zhang

Feelings of disconnection and isolation from teachers and other classmates could have a major negative impact on students' satisfaction and success when learning online. This chapter describes how a variety of Web 2.0 tools have been used to establish and maintain teaching and social presence in online learning. Rather than limiting contact to the virtual world created by well-designed interfaces of learning management system platforms, the creative use of Web conferencing in online teaching not only brings students and teachers together as real human beings but also generates interactions that create more interest and higher engagement. The combined use of synchronous and asynchronous tools, together with mobile devices, has made online learning more flexible, accessible, and credible.


Author(s):  
Amelia W. Cheney ◽  
Terry McClannon ◽  
Les Bolt ◽  
Robert L. Sanders

This chapter is based on survey research conducted between 2010 and 2017, involving 1053 graduate students using immersive online learning environments for their coursework. Investigators used course structural factors and student engagement factors to predict students' perceptions of community and presence in the online immersive space. Utilizing the Sense of Community II index (SCI-2) and the Community of Inquiry survey (COI) median scores as cut scores for predicted outcomes, researchers demonstrated that purely online environments which encouraged student engagement in the online immersive space can enhance sense of presence and sense of community. In addition, students in graduate programs that used online immersive delivery methods longer developed a stronger sense of community. Both dependent measures proved to have stable subscale structures for this inquiry based on a cursory confirmatory factor analysis.


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