Social Presence in Blended Course Forums in the Training of Preservice Teachers

Introduction

Integration of blended learning environments into the training process of preservice teachers may lead to the realization of an educational vision of creating a collaborative learning environment, with the aim to develop social-emotional skills and establish a learning community. Preservice teachers are future teachers, and as such, they will have to activate social emotional skills in their interaction with the students and the school staff, and nurture these skills in their students. Learning and social-emotional experiences in the course of their studies toward a teaching certificate, which serve as a “training ground” for their social-emotional development, are an inseparable part of their mental wellbeing, their cognitive development, and the expansion of their knowledge space. It is important to offer preservice teachers a pleasurable process of learning and experience.

This study examined how students experience the process taking place on the forums operating as part of the course site. We examined the relationship between social presence and feelings of challenge and threat of students in a blended course that combines face-to-face meetings with a website. Feelings of threat, challenge, and social presence reflect the students’ coping with learning process, their satisfaction, and their persistence in learning (Moore, 1993; Zeichner & Zilka, 2016; Zilka & Zeichner, 2017, 2019). The study sheds light on the connection between critical factors involved in learning and teaching blended courses: social presence and feelings of challenge and threat from the perspective of preservice teachers studying in mixed courses. The research question of the study was: What are the factors that affect social involvement in forums and the perception of threat and challenge of preservice teachers studying in a blended course?