Online Courses
Formal online education most commonly takes shape in the form of traditional courses found on Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). While they are both distinct in their course structure and goals, they share a number of similarities. Participants or students interact with one another and with their instructor via asynchronously or synchronously (Mathews and Landorf, 2016; Nielson, 2015).
Vygotsky’s Social Process in Learning
One major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical framework lies in social interaction and its role in developing cognition. Cognition is built on two levels: first, through interaction with others and which is then followed by internalization into the individual’s mental structure.
Social engagement is thus an essential step to initiating the start of cognitive development. It is also the core that underpins Vygotsky's work in the socio-cultural theory of learning, namely scaffolding and zone of proximal development (ZPD). ZPD is a pivotal concept as it highlights the critical role of teachers as mediators; it is the basis of scaffolding (Cho et al., 2016; Huang, 2017; Shaw, 2019). According to Vygotsky's (1978) concept of scaffolding, “problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers" (p. 86). Tying this to an online learning environment then indicates that dialogue-based interactions are critical.
For more details see The Learning Process.
Social Presence
“the extent to which an individual feels a sense of belonging, believes that their emotional expression is supported, and has a mutual awareness of members of an online community” (Wang & Chen, 2008).
Social Presence
Authentic learning contexts are best established by interactions made between peers and teacher and learner typically found in face-to-face contexts (Garrison et al. 2000). Within an online learning environment, this type of social engagement is also known as social presence.
Reasons for Social Disengagement
Moore (1997 as described in Falloon, 2011) argues that the physical distance present in a cyberspace environment also translates to a “perceived pedagogical distance” (p. 189). This sense of distance between peers or peer and teacher creates a psychological and communication gap. Mathew et al. (2016) contend that individuals removing themselves from an uncomfortable state by tuning out or leaving the discussion board is more easily done online than in a face-to-face context.
Learning in isolation week after week can prevent students from moving from surface learning to deep learning. Studies have found that students’ sense of social presence and instructor presence in online courses influence their overall perceptions of learning. Students who perceive a lack of social interactions and instructor presence are left feeling unmotivated and more likely to withdraw and fail (Schoen, n.d.).
Reflection
Password: Etec512vygotsky
Building Social Presence Between Peers
The quality of instructor interactions and interactions among students predicts students’ perception of social presence (Kim et al., 2011). Course designers must create opportunities for individuals to establish authentic and meaningful relationships with their online peers. Learners can go beyond the superficial interactions if instructors...
1) Encourage students to read their peers’ autobiographical introductions.
- Icebreaker activities or conversations can take place on web conferencing apps. This helps put faces to names at the start of the course. Here are some video conferencing apps that support at least 100 participants for free:
2) Implement alternatives to discussion forums that seamlessly support media platforms, such as video, audio, image attachments. Here are some examples with key features:
- Padlet: Visually easy to read and encourages students to be succinct
- Flipgrid - Students respond to Topics by capturing short videos shared within a Grid community
- Voicethread - Comment throughout a video presentation
- join.me - Real-time white board feature
3) Create smaller study groups. Smaller study groups increases the likelihood of forming closer bonds between individuals (Garrison et al. 2000).
- Kizilcec and Schneider (2015) found that learners who enrolled with friends were more likely to remain engaged with their counterparts and continue completing their course.
- Create scenarios where the study groups must collaborate via synchronous live chat.
4) Assign roles to each group member to facilitate discussions.
5) Discuss appropriate social norms in the online classroom.
6) Develop open assignments that present real-world problems.
(Li et al., 2014, Mathews et al., 2016)
Padlet
Flipgrid
Voicethread
Join.me