Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer‐mediated conferencing environment

Social Presence, Social Interaction, Collaborative Learning, and Satisfaction in Online and Face-to-Face Courses

“…Watson and Rutledge (2005) asked students to respond to the statement "I felt as much a part of my online class as regular class" and reported that 30% disagreed with the statement. Gunawardena and Zittle (1997), along with Kanuka and Anderson (1998), reveal interactions between learner and instructor also contribute to satisfaction. Jung et al (2002) reported learner's satisfaction was more strongly related to student-student interaction than interaction with the instructor.…”

“…Researchers have identified social presence (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976;Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997;So & Brush, 2008), social interaction (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997;Picciano, 2002), collaborative learning (Kitchen &McDougall, 1998;Curtis & Lawson, 2001;So & Brush, 2008), and satisfaction (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997;So & Brush, 2008) as important and essential elements for any successful and effective online course design (McFadden, 2006).…”

“…Social presence has emerged as an important social factor in the field of distance learning (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997), as well as one of the most critical factors in technology-based learning (Tu, 2000). To fully understand the concept of social presence, it is important to understand what socialization and presence entails (Jolivette, 2006).…”

Using Blogs to Promote Student Interaction and Learning in EFL Classes

“…All three types of interactivity promote engaged learning and help develop collaborative learning experiences. Gunawardena and Zittle (1997), researchers in the area of social presence and computer-mediated conferencing, refer to the collaborative aspect of computer-mediated learning as 'social presence' , which is defined as the experience of immediacy and intimacy in social exchanges and found to be a strong predictor of student satisfaction with the class. Based on these findings, the current study focused on the creation of an online learning environment via a Class blog that offers opportunities for learnerlearner interaction and creates an atmosphere in which students are motivated to learn and become part of a learning community with their classmates.…”

“…Many researchers have pointed out the importance of active exchanges with others to enhance student performance and satisfaction (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997;Moore & Kearsley, 1996;etc.). According to Richardson (2003: 5), blogs are 'a way to communicate with students ..., 'manage' the knowledge that members of the school community create' .…”