Creating Teaching and Social Presence via Online Interactions

Info Research shows that students work better in groups than in isolation, not just in face-to-face classrooms, but even more so in the online learning environment (CSU, Chico, 2009; Henry and Meadows, 2008; Maryland Online, 2008). Sense of community and social presence are essential to online excellence.

Before designing collaborative interaction activities for your online courses, explore what types of interactions will best meet your course objectives and which computer-mediated tools will best facilitate those types of interactions. Moore (1989) describes three types of interaction necessary for quality distance learning courses and programs:

Learner-instructor interaction, such as e-mails and announcements
Learner-learner interaction, such as collaborative group work and peer review activities
Learner-content interaction, such as presenting course contents in an appropriate and motivating format

Your online teaching presence primarily deals with learner-instructor and learner-content interactions where instructors provide learner supports and present content and assessments. The online social presence focuses more on learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions where your students work in groups and seek feedback from you and their peers (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). If you can create a teaching and social presence that facilitates all three types of interactions, your online course will be successful.

Tools for Interaction

There are various tools and technologies available both inside and outside of to help you design your online teaching and social presence. Here are some resources to help you select the appropriate tools for facilitating interactions:

The Interaction Matrix (Doc) provides you with a detailed description of tools typically available and how they may be used to create interactions in your online course.
The following table presents examples of communication technologies. Some of these tools are not available inside an LMS. If you would like to integrate them into your courses, contact your instructional designer to discuss effective resources and strategies.

Communication Technologies
Asynchronous	Synchronous (live)	On Demand
E-mail	Text, audio and video chat	Audio
Wikis	Instant messaging	Video
Blogs	Web conferencing	Animation
E-portfolios	Online office hours	Immersive simulations
Discussion forums	Virtual worlds	3-dimensional modeling
Social networking applications		Interactive multimedia that responds to student behaviors

The construction model for online course designs is a graphic tool designed to support brainstorming, planning, and designing course objectives, and how they work with assessments and instructional strategies that use tools in an online course.

Instructional Strategies & Best Practices

Henry and Meadows (2008) summarize aspects of online teaching that reportedly contribute to enhanced learning and student satisfaction. They include interaction strategies such as quick turnaround time by the instructor, frequent and engaged contact, individual feedback, great communication skills, and regular use of student names. There are a number of instructional strategies and best practices located in the next sections.

Teaching Online Strategies

Visit Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository to review the following faculty strategies:

Optional Further Reading

References

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), California State University, Chico (2009). Rubric for Online Instruction. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from https://www.csuchico.edu/eoi/_assets/documents/rubric-for-online-instruction-accessible.pdf
Garrison, R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.
Jensen, L. (2002). Interaction in Distance Education (Vol. 2005). Arizona State University.
Jung, I., Choi, S., Lim, C., & Leem, J. (2002). Effects of Different Types of Interaction on Learning Achievement, Satisfaction and Participation in Web-Based Instruction. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 39(2), 153-163.
MarylandOnline. (2008). Quality Matters Program. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.qualitymatters.org/
Moore, M. G. (1989). Three types of interaction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-6.
Teaching Online. (2011). Instructional best practices using technology. UCF Teaching Online. Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://teach.ucf.edu/pedagogy/best-practices/
Henry, J., & Meadows, J. (2008). An absolutely riveting online course: Nine principles for excellence in Web-based teaching. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 34(1).

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