pts2011 socialpresencever4

Joni Dunlap | joni.dunlap@ucdenver.eduPatrick Lowenthal | patrick.lowenthal@ucdenver.eduEllen Stevens | ellen.stevens@ucdenver.edu

Long (K)nights at the round table:

Our quest for the social-presence grail

From Joni:

Good afternoon, everyone!

I am an associate professor of instructional design and technology in the School of Education and Human Development, and the Assistant Director for Teaching Effectiveness with the Center for Faculty Development on the downtown Denver campus.

My teaching and research interests focus on the use of sociocultural approaches to enhance adult learners’ development and experience in postsecondary settings.

I live in Littleton, with my husband and two amazing daughters – Gillian (7) and Raeghan (4).

From Patrick: Howdy!

I am an academic technology coordinator at CU Online. I am also a doctoral student in the School of Education where I also teach online in the Information & Learning Technologies program.

My research focuses on teaching and learning online – specifically, how people communicate, connect, and build community in online environments.

I currently live in Westminster with my wife, two girls (Jordan & Ashlyn) and two dogs.

How’s that working for

you?

Theory of Social Presence

• Introduction and orientation

• Personalized, detailed feedback

• Reconnecting (e.g., synchronous and asynchronous discussions, fun activities)

• Discussion, peer support, and collaborative resource sharing

• Free-flowing, organic interactions

High & Low Tech Strategies

All Hours of the Day…

Our Quest Began

How important is social presence:

(a) very important(b) important(c) not that important (d) waste of time (e) what’s social presence?

What Do You Think?

Are They All Equal?

Synchronous Sessions

Personalized Videos

What Makes You Rock?

Superhero Powers

5-Minute Phone Call

What’s Happening?

It was time for a closer look

What are students’ perceptions of various social-presence strategies in an online course?

Our Big Question

Which do students like more:

(a) high-tech strategies?

OR

(b) low-tech strategies?

What Do You Think?

• In general, the discussions helped me feel connected to my course colleagues. The discussions also helped me feel connected to you (Joni). In addition, the feedback I received on my projects helped quite a bit as well.

• The structured discussions that we had always help me, sometimes I may miss a point that someone else may see, so I like that and the various points other students make. I also like the peer review on the projects, I think that helped me feel connected. I think you did a great job with interacting with the discussions and any email I sent you answered quickly, so I felt connected.

Phase 1 results (1 of 5)

• In general, the discussions helped me feel connected to my course colleagues. The discussions also helped me feel connected to you (Joni). In addition, the feedback I received on my projects helped quite a bit as well.

• The structured discussions that we had always help me, sometimes I may miss a point that someone else may see, so I like that and the various points other students make. I also like the peer review on the projects, I think that helped me feel connected. I think you did a great job with interacting with the discussions and any email I sent you answered quickly, so I felt connected.

Phase 1 results (1 of 5)

• The part of the course that made me feel connected to the other students was the peer reviews. The aspect of the course that helped me feel connected to the instructor was the feedback I received from the instructor and the follow-up email exchanges.

• I really liked being an integral part of reviewing. I felt (especially in certain assignment) that I really got some insight into how the other students interpreted the assignments and put their own life (either work or other parts of their life) into the assignment.

Phase 1 results (2 of 5)

• The part of the course that made me feel connected to the other students was the peer reviews. The aspect of the course that helped me feel connected to the instructor was the feedback I received from the instructor and the follow-up email exchanges.

• I really liked being an integral part of reviewing. I felt (especially in certain assignment) that I really got some insight into how the other students interpreted the assignments and put their own life (either work or other parts of their life) into the assignment.

Phase 1 results (2 of 5)

• The introductory music activity was absolutely awesome to help in getting to know people. Many of us have worked together the past few semesters, but this helped shed a lot of light of a more personal nature about their lives. I would also say reading and reviewing others assignments and postings also helped indirectly connect....

Phase 1 results (3 of 5)

• The introductory music activity was absolutely awesome to help in getting to know people. Many of us have worked together the past few semesters, but this helped shed a lot of light of a more personal nature about their lives. I would also say reading and reviewing others assignments and postings also helped indirectly connect....

Phase 1 results (3 of 5)

I really LOVE twittering with everyone. It really made me feel like we knew each other more and were actually in class together.

The Soundtrack of Your Life: It was a creative way to introduce ourselves to each other that communicated something about ourselves instead of using words. I thought the Google Doc activities were an excellent way to express ourselves freely for others to read freely about our expressions.

Phase 1 results (4 of 5)

I really LOVE twittering with everyone. It really made me feel like we knew each other more and were actually in class together.

The Soundtrack of Your Life: It was a creative way to introduce ourselves to each other that communicated something about ourselves instead of using words. I thought the Google Doc activities were an excellent way to express ourselves freely for others to read freely about our expressions.

Phase 1 results (4 of 5)

In terms of relating to Joni, I felt your contributions to discussions and commentary were obviously the biggest way to get your thoughts on our work. I would periodically check your blogs to review your thoughts, and the artwork you chose to illustrate each week did give some ideas as to where you are coming from or whom you are.

Phase 1 results (5 of 5)

In terms of relating to Joni, I felt your contributions to discussions and commentary were obviously the biggest way to get your thoughts on our work. I would periodically check your blogs to review your thoughts, and the artwork you chose to illustrate each week did give some ideas as to where you are coming from or whom you are.

Phase 1 results (5 of 5)

How confident were we that students preferred high-tech strategies?

(a) Making demands like rock stars(b) Tweeting about our findings(c) Worried that it would all fall apart, styming our chances at fame and fortune

Overly Confident

Phase 2 Results

General “how-to” screencasts M=3.73

One-on-one emails M=3.67

Trouble shooting “how-to” videos M=3.55

Detailed written feedback M=3.5

Instructor bios M=3.47

Screencast feedback on assignments M=3.45

Adobe Connect synchronous sessions M=3.36

5-minute phone conversation M=3.33

Previous relationship with instructor M=3.3

Digital storytelling M=3.25

Connected to Instructor: Top 10

Digital storytelling M=3.31

One-on-one emails M=3.14

Previous relationship w/ peers M=3.07

Access to peers projects M=3.07

Virtual Paper Bag: Story M=2.88

Adobe Connect synchronous sessions M=2.79

Virtual Paper Bag: Five photos in Flickr M=2.78

Peer reviews M=2.67

Virtual Paper Bag: Soundtrack M=2.56

Threaded discussions M=2.5

Connected to Peers: Top 10

Twitter M=1.79

Top 100 List of Design Guidelines M=1.89

Just ask Zoltar M=2.00

Superhero Powers M=2.13

Course Overview Videos M=2.14

Connected to Instructor: Bottom 5

Twitter M=1.54

Just ask Zoltar M=1.89

Top 100 List of Design Guidelines M=2.00

Superhero Powers M=2.11

Instructor’s Feedback on Other’s work

M=2.25

Connected to Peers: Bottom 5

What was the most effective at helping you feel connected to your instructor?

Connected to Instructor: Effective

High-tech:•Adobe Connect synchronous sessions•How-to screencasts

What was the most effective at helping you feel connected to your instructor?

Connected to Instructor: Effective

Low-tech:•Instructor bios•5-minute phone conversation•One-on-one emails•Detailed written feedback

What was the most effective at helping you feel connected to your peers?

Connected to Peers: Effective

High-tech:•Threaded discussions•The Virtual Paper Bag•Digital storytelling

What was the most effective at helping you feel connected to your peers?

Connected to Peers: Effective

Low-tech:•Peer review•Access to each other’s projects•One-on-one emails

What was the least effective at helping you feel connected to your instructor?

Connected to Instructor: Not

High-tech:•Twitter•Threaded discussions•Course overview videos

What was the least effective at helping you feel connected to your instructor?

Connected to Instructor: Not

Low-tech:•No comments provided

What was the least effective at helping you feel connected to your peers?

Connected to Peers: Not

High-tech:•Twitter•Top 100 List•Musical activities

What was the least effective at helping you feel connected to your peers?

Connected to Peers: Not

Low-tech:•Providing peer review feedback

What Would You Do?

Given these results, what would you do next?

a) Stop teaching onlineb) Collect more data

• Semi-structured interviews with four students with high SP scores, four students with low SP scores– In an online course, how important do you think feeling

connected to your instructor is as well as getting a sense that your instructor is "there" and "real"? Why? What types of technologies and learning activities help?

– In an online course, how important do you think feeling connected to your peers is as well as getting a sense that they are "there" and "real"? Why? What types of technologies and learning activities help?

Next Phase (Phase 3)

• The two phases led to different results; the quest isn’t over

• Not all strategies are weighted the same

• Is there a right combination, and/or saturation point?

• Low-tech solutions are a good approach?

• Each online course may need a different roundtable

Discussion

What would you do next?

Conclusion