What is...?

In today's robust online world, it is imperative to create your presence. You paint the picture of who you are by posting pictures, your biography and sometimes your resume. You create this online persona so that it is easier for others to get an idea of who you are in "real life." It has become more important to feel like we are interacting with "real" people. The same is true for your online "classrooms."

Studies have shown that online education can feel isolating for students, especially those who are used to a face-to-face instructor. "When confronted with a sense of isolation, however, students are much more likely to actively disengage, creating a significantly rockier path to achieving positive learning outcomes (Croft et al., 2015). " 

Learning theorist, Dr. D. Randy Garrison, has defined social presence as “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities (Garrison, 2009, p. 352)."

But does this social presence actually help?  Researching this topic, you will find many studies and arguments that land on either side of yes and no. Many studies claim that instructors will see more student motivation and connection to the material when the instructor establishes their presence. Others seem to negate this claim, like Sheridan and Kelly's 2010 report "The Indicators of Instructor Presence that are Important to Students in Online Course," upon further inspection, their findings are showing that students do not perceive that instructor presence mattered too much to their learning outcomes. 

However, if we look back to research from 1987, (Chickering and Gamson's, Seven Principles for Practice in Higher Education, which is often cited by more recent researchers and applied to online learning, as well as traditional education) we see that these principles are built around the importance of instructor/student interactions and how these interactions spur learning.   For example, their first principle states: 

"Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working.  Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans (Chickering & Gamson, 1987, p. 3)." 

Instructor presence is becoming a best practice in creating online education. Throughout the rest of this site, we will introduce a theory that supports this, elements of creating the presence, and tips and tricks!