DistanceEducation(volume38,number2,2017)

SpecialIssueonSocialPresenceandIdentityinOnlineLearning

SocialPresenceisamultifacetedandcomplicatedconstruct(seeBioccaetal.,2003Lombard&Ditto,
1997)thatdatesbacktothe1970s(Short,Williams,&Christie,1976).Shortetal.originallydefined
socialpresenceasthedegreeofsalience(i.e.,qualityorstateofbeingthere)betweentwocommunicators
usingacommunicationmedium,arguingthatmediadifferintheirdegreeofsocialpresence,influencing
howpeopleinteract.Duringthe1990s,asonlineeducationgrew,researchersbegantonoticethat
computermediateddiscourse(CMC)canbesocial,interpersonal(Gunawardena,1995Gunawardena&
Zittle,1997),andattimesevenhyperpersonal(Walther,1996).Onlineeducatorsevenbegantoarguethat
socialpresenceisakeycomponenttoeducationalexperiences(Garrison,Anderson,&Archer,2000).

WhilethemajorityofresearchonsocialpresenceisgroundedintheCommunityofInquiryframework
(seeDiaz,Swan,Ice,&Kupczynski,2010Lowenthal,2009Rourke&Kanuka,2009),researchersover
theyearshaveinvestigatedsocialpresencefromvariousperspectives(e.g.,Bronacketal.,2008Caspi&
Blau,2008Gunawardena,1995Gunawardena&Zittle,1997Keengwe,AdjeiBoateng,&Diteeyont,
2012Richardson&Swan,2003Rogers&Lea,2005Tu,2001,2002a,2002b).Regardlessof
perspective,veryfewresearchersbesidesafewnotableexceptions(e.g.,Dennen,2007Rogers&Leas,
2005)havefocusedontheroleofidentitywheninvestigatinghowpeopleestablishthemselvesasreal
andthereinonlinelearningenvironments.Identity,likepresence,isacomplextopic(seeBuckingham,
2007Greenhow&Robelia,2009Hughes&Oliver,2010).Identityisdynamic(Ct&Levine,2002)
peopledevelopmultipleidentities(Gee,2003),whichshiftandareinfluencedbyculturalpractices(Nasir
&Hand,2006).Identityisperformedbytheindividual,communicatedprimarilyviavisual(e.g.,avatars
andphotos)andtextualcues(e.g.,usernames,profiles,writingstyleorvoice).However,itsalso
negotiatedviadiscursivepositioning(Dennen,2007,2011HarrandvanLangenhove,1999)withother
participants,whoengagereciprocalmembershipcategorizationbasedontheidentitycuesthatare
provided(Schegloff,2007).

Thisspecialissuefocusedonsocialpresenceandidentitywillbringtogetherresearchersworkinginthese
twoareasand,inturn,variousperspectives(e.g.,CoIframeworkaswellasothers),whetherfocusedon
formalorinformallearning,andwhethersituatedinprivateorpublicdiscoursecontexts.

PossibleTopics:
Weinvitearticlesthatinvestigatetheinteractionofsocialpresenceandidentityinvariousonlinelearning
contexts,includingbutnotlimitedtothefollowing:

Developmentofsocialpresenceandidentityinonlineclasses
Effectsofinstructorsocialpresenceandidentityonlearning
Effectsoflearnersocialpresenceandidentityonpeerengagementandcommunitydevelopment
Therelationshipbetweenperformedidentityandlevelofsocialpresence
Differencesinhowidentityandsocialpresenceareconveyedacrosscategoriesoftools
Effectsoflearningtoolinterfaceandfeaturesonthedevelopmentofsocialpresenceandidentity
Socialpresenceandindividualidentityvs.groupidentity
Socialpresence,identity,andcontext
Socialpresence,identity,andsocialmedia
Instructorsocialpresence,identity,anduseofmedia

Presence,identity,andcodeswitchingineducation
Instructorsocialpresence,identity,andpower
Groupwork,presence,andidentityformation
Presence,identity,andprivacy
Presence,identity,andlanguageuse
Communityofinquiryandidentity

Thoseinterestedshouldemaila300500wordproposaloutliningthefocusoftheproposedmanuscriptto
PatrickLowenthal(
patricklowenthal@boisestate.edu
)andVanessaDennen(
vdennen@fsu.edu
)byJune
13th2016.
ImportantDates
June13th2016:DeadlineforProposals
June18th2016:Invitedauthorswillbenotified
September16th:Fullarticlesduetoguesteditors
November30th:Notificationsofacceptance
January6th:Revisedarticlesdue
May2017:Expectedpublication

GuestEditors
PatrickLowenthal,BoiseStateUniversity,
patricklowenthal@boisestate.edu
VanessaDennen,FloridaStateUniversity,
vdennen@fsu.edu

References
Biocca,F.,Harms,C.,&Burgoon,J.K.(2003).Towardamorerobusttheoryandmeasureofsocialpresence:
Reviewandsuggestedcriteria.
Presence:Teleoperators&VirtualEnvironments,12
(5),456480.
Bronack,S.,Sanders,R.,Cheney,A.,Riedl,R.,Tashner,J.,&Matzen,N.(2008).Presencepedagogy:Teachingand
learningina3Dimmersiveworld.
InternationalJournalofTeachingandLearninginHigherEducation,
20
(1),5969.
Buckingham,D.(2007).Introducingidentity.InD.Buckingham(Ed.),
Youth,identity,anddigitalmedia
(pp.124).
Cambridge,MA:TheMITPress.
Caspi,A.,&Blau,I.(2008).Socialpresenceinonlinediscussiongroups:testingthreeconceptionsandtheir
relationstoperceivedlearning.
SocialPsychologyofEducation,11
(3),323346.
Ct,J.E.,&Levine,C.(2002).
Identityformation,agency,andculture:Asocialpsychologicalsynthesis.
Mahwah,
NJ:LawrenceErlbaumAssociates.
Dennen,V.(2011).Facilitatorpresenceandidentityinonlinediscourse:Useofpositioningtheoryasananalytic
framework.
InstructionalScience,39
(4),527541.doi:10.1007/s1125101091390.
Dennen,V.(2007).Presenceandpositioningascomponentsofonlineinstructorpersona.
JournalofResearchon
TechnologyinEducation,40
(1),95108.
Diaz,S.R.,Swan,K.,Ice,P.,&Kupczynski,L.(2010).Studentratingsoftheimportanceofsurveyitems,
multiplicativefactoranalysis,andthevalidityofthecommunityofinquirysurvey.
InternetandHigher
Education,13
,2230.
Garrison,D.R.,Anderson,T.,&Archer,W.(2000).Criticalinquiryinatextbasedenvironment:Computer
conferencinginhighereducation.
InternetandHigherEducation,2
(23),87105.
Gee,J.P.(2003).
Whatvideogameshavetoteachusaboutlearningandliteracy
.NewYork:PalgraveMacmillan.
Greenhow,C.,&Robelia,B.(2009).Informallearningandidentityformationinonlinesocialnetworks.
Learning,
MediaandTechnology,34
(2),119140.
Gunawardena,C.N.(1995).Socialpresencetheoryandimplicationsforinteractionandcollaborativelearningin
computerconferences.
InternationalJournalofEducationalTelecommunications,1
(2/3),147166.
Gunawardena,C.N.,&Zittle,F.J.(1997).Socialpresenceasapredictorofsatisfactionwithinacomputermediated
conferencingenvironment.
AmericanJournalofDistanceEducation,11
(3),826.

Harre,R.,&vanLangenhove,L.(Eds.).(1999).Positioningtheory:Moralcontextsofintentionalactions.Oxford:
Blackwell.
Hughes,G.,&Oliver,M.(2010).Beingonline:acriticalviewofidentityandsubjectivityinnewvirtuallearning
spaces.
LondonReviewofEducation,8(
1),14.
Keengwe,J.,AdjeiBoateng,E.,&Diteeyont,W.(2012).Facilitatingactivesocialpresenceandmeaningful
interactionsinonlinelearning.
EducationandInformationTechnologies
.DOI:10.1007/s1063901291979
Lombard,M.,&Ditton,T.(1997).Attheheartofitall:Theconceptofpresence.
JournalofComputerMediated
Communication,3
(2).Retrievedfromhttp://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html
Lowenthal,P.R.(2009).Theevolutionandinfluenceofsocialpresencetheoryononlinelearning.InT.T.Kidd
(Ed.),
Onlineeducationandadultlearning:Newfrontiersforteachingpractices
(pp.124139).Hershey,
PA:IGIGlobal.
Nasir,N.S.,&Hand,V.M.(2006).Exploringsocioculturalperspectivesonrace,culture,andlearning.
Reviewof
EducationalResearch,76
(4),449475.
Richardson,J.C.,&Swan,K.(2003).Examiningsocialpresenceinonlinecoursesinrelationtostudents'perceived
learningandsatisfaction.
JournalofAsynchronousLearningNetworks,7
(1),6888.
Rogers,P.,&Lea,M.(2005).Socialpresenceindistributedgroupenvironments:Theroleofsocialidentity.
Behaviour&InformationTechnology,24
(2),151158.
Rourke,L.,&Kanuka,H.(2009).Learningincommunitiesofinquiry:Areviewoftheliterature.
Journalof
DistanceEducation,23
(1),1948.
Schegloff,E.A.(2007).Atutorialonmembershipcategorization.
JournalofPragmatics,39
(3),462482.doi:
10.1016/j.pragma.2006.07.007
Short,J.,Williams,E.,&Christie,B.(1976).
Thesocialpsychologyoftelecommunications
.London:JohnWiley&
Sons.
Tu,C.H.(2001).HowChineseperceivesocialpresence:Anexaminationofinteractioninonlinelearning
environment.
EducationMediaInternational,38
(1),4560.
Tu,C.H.(2002a).TheimpactsoftextbasedCMCononlinesocialpresence.
JournalofInteractiveOnline
Learning,1
(2).Retrievedfromhttp://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/1.2.6.pdf
Tu,C.H.(2002b).Themeasurementofsocialpresenceinanonlinelearningenvironment.
InternationalJournalon
ELearning,1
(2),3445.
Walther,J.B.,&Parks,M.R.(2002).Cuesfilteredout,cuesfilteredin.InM.L.Knapp&J.A.Daly(Eds.),
Handbookofinterpersonalcommunication
(pp.529563).ThousandOaks,CA:Sage.
Walther,J.B.(1996).Computermediatedcommunication:Impersonal,interpersonal,andhyperpersonalinteraction.
CommunicationResearch,23
(1),343.