Social Presence in an Online Learning Environment

Social Presence And Social Interactions

Whiteside (2015 , 2018) and Whiteside and Dikkers (2017) explained social interaction as social presence and identified five components: affective association, community cohesion, knowledge and experience, interaction intensity, and instructor involvement. Affective association includes the emotions that might be reflected by both instructor and students, such as sharing humorous stories or personal information. It might be evident when introductions are included at the beginning of a course. Community cohesion includes the behaviors or gestures within the course than unite members, such as sharing tips or advice to course colleagues and speaking of course members as a “we” rather than simply a random group of individuals. Interaction intensity refers to the back and forth exchanges among all participants and might be indicated in an atmosphere in which polite disagreements are as permissible as consensus.

Knowledge and experience relate to the perspective provided decades ago by Vygotsky that learning is enhanced through interactions with a “more knowledgeable other.” Participants in an online learning experience can create together a more dynamic environment in which each member’s individual knowledge can be shared by the group. Instructor involvement includes the ways in which an instructor’s communication is provided in non-judgmental and friendly ways that show an active response to learners’ needs.