Social Presence in Massive Open Online Courses

Autor/inn/en	Poquet, Oleksandra; Kovanovic, Vitomir; de Vries, Pieter; Hennis, Thieme; Joksimovic, Srecko; Gaševic, Dragan; Dawson, Shane
Titel	Social Presence in Massive Open Online Courses
Quelle	In: International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19 (2018) 3, S.43-68 (26 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1492-3831
Schlagwörter	Online Courses; Large Group Instruction; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; Interpersonal Relationship; Distance Education; Attitude Measures; Questionnaires; Student Surveys; Computer Mediated Communication; Statistical Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Online course; Online-Kurs; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Fragebogen; Schülerbefragung; Computerkonferenz; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	The capacity to foster interpersonal interactions in massive open online courses (MOOCs) has frequently been contested, particularly when learner interactions are limited to MOOC forums. The establishment of social presence--a perceived sense of somebody being present and "real"--is among the strategies to tackle the challenges of online learning and could be applied in MOOCs. Thus far, social presence in MOOCs has been under-researched. Studies that previously examined social presence in MOOCs did not account for the peculiar nature of open online learning. In contrast to the existing work, this study seeks to understand how learners perceive social presence, and the different nuances of social presence in diverse MOOC populations. In particular, we compare perceptions of social presence across the groups of learners with different patterns of forum participation in three edX MOOCs. The findings reveal substantial differences in how learners with varying forum activity perceive social presence. Perceptions of social presence also differed in courses with the varying volume of forum interaction and duration. Finally, learners with sustained forum activity generally reported higher social presence scores that included low affectivity and strong group cohesion perceptions. With this in mind, this study is significant because of the insights in brings to the current body of knowledge around social presence in MOOCs. The study's findings also raise questions about the effectiveness of transferring existing socio-constructivist constructs into the MOOC contexts. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Athabasca University. 1200, 10011 - 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8, Canada. Tel: 780-421-2536; Fax: 780-497-3416; e-mail: irrodl@athabascau.ca; Web site: http://www.irrodl.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01