A Study of the Predictive Relationship Between Online Social Presence and ONLE Interaction

Abstract

Open Network Learning Environments (ONLE) are oniine networks that afford learners the opportunity to participate in creative content endeavors, personalized identity projections, networked mechanism management, and effective collaborative community integration by appiying Web 2.0 tools in open environments. It supports social interaction by integrating User-Generated Content, Participatory Web, digital identities, sociai and networking iinkages, and collaborative learning community to ailow iearners manage and taiior their social presence. The purposes of this study ^^re to assess the predictive reiationship between online social presence and overall ONLE's social interaction and examine the predictive reiationships between online social presence and four dimensions ofONLE's interaction (i.e., cognitive, social, networking, and integration). The results of this study did not support the roie of oniine social presence as a predictor for overall ONLE's sociai interaction. Although social presence can serve as a predictor for networking and integration dimensions, social presence cannot serve as a predictor for cognitive and social dimensions. This study suggests CMC and ONLE have different dynamics in social interaction. ON LE focuses on "sociai and "networking" linkages to transform online iearners into "network learners" to project their ideai and preferred "network sociai presence" rather than oniine social presence.

Facebook as an Actor - A Case of Students Negotiating Their Social Presence in an Online Course

“…Moreover, Baker (2004) points out the immediate proximity of the teacher or the ability to respond quickly to the students, while Borup, West and Graham (2012) claim that an explicit teacher role is especially important for the students to experience social presence in the use of video lectures. Several studies have suggested a set of factors that are needed to establish social presence in a digital learning environment (Chih-Hsiung, Cherng-Jyh, Blocher, & Junn-Yih, 2012;Dow, 2008;Sherblom, 2010;Sung & Mayer, 2012). These studies focus first and foremost on mechanisms to improve the students' communication, activity, productivity and fulfilment of studies in a digital educational setting.…”