DEVELOPING SOCIAL PRESENCE

IN ONLINE CLASSROOMS

KIMBERLY M. HARRISON, ABD INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

ELMHURST COLLEGE / NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
ICCHE FEBRUARY 2015

AGENDA
What is social presence? How do we recognize it?
Facilitating the development of social presence: Instructional

practices
Facilitating the development of social presence: Overview of 25

tools
Poll: Which tools would you like to know more about?
(More) in-depth discussion of 3 tools
Q&A / Your tools, tips, & tricks

WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?

ONLINE STUDENTS
Independent
but not lonely
Students love the flexibility, but
are often surprised at the difficulty
of the class, & how much they
miss interaction.
Photo from FreeDigitalPhotos.com, created by jscreationzs

SOCIAL PRESENCE

Degree of salience of the other person in the interaction

and the consequent salience of the interpersonal

relationships (Short et al., 1976)
When users feel that a form, behavior, or sensory

experience indicates the presence of another intelligence

(Biocca, 1997)
Person-to-person awareness, which occurs in a mediated

environment (Tu, 2002)

The ability of participants to identify with the community

(e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a

trusting environment, and develop inter-personal
relationships by way of projecting their individual (Gunawardena,

SOCIAL PRESENCE THEORY

HOWEVER
[T]he first priority for most students in a formal educational context

is shared social identity (i.e., the purpose of the course), and not
personal identity (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2010, p. 7)
Social presence develops when learners have a chance to develop a

trusting environment to explore course goals together (Garrison,

Anderson, & Archer, 2010)

SPTS BENEFITS

TOOL #1:
ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
(MOST OF THIS APPLIES TO SYNCHRONOUS DISCUSSIONS, TOO)

HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE SOCIAL PRESENCE?

Participation

Inclusive pronouns (we)

Greetings

Questions / invitations to
comment

Conversational tone

Supportive remarks /
positive feedback

Humor
Emoticons & metalinguistic
cues:

<grin>

Requests for, or offers of,

help
Links to personal

HOW DO WE FACILITATE SOCIAL

PRESENCE?

HOW
TO FACILITATE
SOCIAL
PRESENCE?
DIRECT
INSTRUCTION
& INSTRUCTOR
MODELING
Participate! (Encourage, model)

Inclusive pronouns (we)

Greetings

Questions / invitations to
comment

Conversational tone

Supportive remarks / positive

feedback

Humor
Emoticons & metalinguistic cues

Teach to avoid
overuse, too
(Tu, 2002)

Requests for, or offers of, help

Links to personal experiences /

sharing stories
Also: Make sure students know how to use the
tech tools

<grin>

HOW TO FACILITATE SOCIAL PRESENCE?

ENCOURAGING REFLECTION (CHAPNICK, 2014)
Reporting = summarizing

Reacting
Visceral response
In students own voice
Describes anything

Reflecting
Connecting prior

assumptions and
expectations to X
Personal impact of X
Critical thinking in original
posts should lead to
enhanced discussion / more
social presence throughout.

OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY TOOLS FOR

FACILITATING SOCIAL PRESENCE

7 WAYS TEACHERS CAN USE TECH

NOLOGY WITH PURPOSE INFOGRAP
HIC
BY A.J. JULIANI

USING TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL PRESENCE

#3
#2
Reflect
& share

Collaborate in real time

#1

Make something that matters

#4

USING TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL PRESENCE

Reflect & share
Collaborate in real time
Make something that matters

COLLABORATE WITH
GOOGLE DOCS / SHEETS / SLIDES / DRIVE
2. This Google Sheet has hyperlinks for the tools we are going

to discuss:

http://bit.ly/1LQHX7a

(Note: This one can only be edited by me.)

3. Here is a Google Doc that you can add to, edit, etc.:

bit.ly/1zDo0KJ

http://

#4: VOICETHREAD ($99 / YEAR)

#5: COGGLE

COLLABORATE WITH
6. Skype / Google+ Hangouts
.Students can chat with each other using

just audio or audio / video

7. Glide
.Asynchronous video messaging

USING TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL PRESENCE

Reflect & share
Collaborate in real time
Make something that matters

Shared
course
identity:
Icebreakers:
Yay!
Random stories
in week 5: Boo!

#8: STRAWPOLL.ME
Take
the
survey
! The
link is
in the
Googl
e Doc,
2nd
page!

#9: GOOGLE FORMS

#10: ANIMOTO

#11: VOKI

#12: TWITTER
Recommendation: Make a separate account for each class
Students share online resources (web pages, videos)
Teach them about shortened URLS: bit.ly.com or

tinyurl.com
Twitter widget can be added into some LMSs for students

who dont want to create a Twitter account

WE NOW INTERRUPT THIS PRESENTATION

OF INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS.

#13: ALTERNATIVES TO TERM PAPERS

Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) Library

AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY

SCHEDULED PRESENTATION OF
INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS.

#14: FACEBOOK
Some instructors become Facebook friends with students;

some are very much opposed to this (pros/cons)

(Closed) Facebook groups: Effective for creating a community;

separates personal from classroom

More likely to post socially here than in an ungraded discussion
Can be used to share online resources or responses to an

academic activity
Your college / university may have a Groups for Schools page

#15: CEL.LY

#16: KAHOOT!

#17: SOCRATIVE

DIPSTICKS: EFFICIENT WAYS TO CHECK FOR

UNDERSTANDING
EDUTOPIA
FINLEY, T. (2014, JULY 30)

USING TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL PRESENCE

Reflect & share
Collaborate in real time
Make something that matters

HOW TO FACILITATE SOCIAL PRESENCE?

ENCOURAGING REFLECTION (CHAPNICK, 2014)
Reporting = summarizing

Reacting
Visceral response
In students own voice
Describes anything

Reflecting
Connecting prior

assumptions and
expectations to X
Personal impact of X
Critical thinking in original
posts should lead to
enhanced discussion / more
social presence throughout.

#18: DIPITY

#19: BLOGGER

#20: WEEBLY

#21: WIKISPACES CLASSROOM

#22: TARHEEL READER

Invitation
code:
Literacy!

#23: PIXTON ($8.99+/MONTH)

#24: POSTER MY WALL

#25: EASEL.LY: INFOGRAPHICS

Lets go see some infographics!

WHICH TOOLS WOULD YOU LIKE

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT?

ICCHE2015

Link to Examples

http://bit.ly/1KGczGZ

HOPEFULLY YOU WILL PICK 1 OR 2 OF THESE

IDEAS TO TRY OUT EITHER THIS SEMESTER OR
NEXT

It is not about the technology; its about sharing

knowledge and information, communicating
efficiently, building learning communities and
creating a culture of professionalism in schools.
These are the key responsibilities of all
educational leaders. Marion Ginapolis
http://teachbytes.com/2012/03/01/10-educational-technology-q
uotes
/

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CONTACT INFO:
KIMBERLY M. HARRISON
CURRICULUM DEVELOPER
ELMHURST COLLEGE
KIMBERLY.HARRISON@ELMHURST.EDU
630-617-5998