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“I WANT TO SAY MY OPINION, BUT…”
STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL PRESENCE IN
ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
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“I WANT TO SAY MY OPINION, BUT…”
STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL PRESENCE IN
ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
PRESENTER: KIMBERLY M. HARRISON, PHD
ELMHURST COLLEGE
CO-AUTHORS: CINDY S. YORK, PHD & HAYLEY MAYALL, PHD
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
NOVEMBER 17, 2016

LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Describe how students experience social presence in asynchronous
online discussions.
 List and discuss methods for potentially increasing social presence
in asynchronous online discussions.

WHAT ARE ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS (AOD)?
 AKA threaded discussions / computer-mediated conferencing
 Online spaces to promote communication but not in real-time
 Uses text and digital tools
 Available 24/7
 Time to think / no interruptions / everyone participates
 Time-intensive / miss flow of conversation

WHAT WAS THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY?
 Describe students’ experiences as they experienced & developed social
presence within AOD
 Knowingly or unknowingly
 Change through college careers?

WHY STUDY THIS TOPIC?
 Discussions promote learning & student satisfaction
 Staple of higher education courses
 Unlike other teaching methods
 Students’ perceptions vary widely
 Goal: Better develop online discussion environments to support learning

RESEARCH QUESTIONS (LARGER STUDY)
1. How do students use impression management strategies to develop social
identities (whether intentionally or unintentionally) within asynchronous
online discussions?
2. What are the experiences of students developing social identities within
asynchronous online discussions?

EXISTING LITERATURE

GAPS IN LITERATURE ADDRESSED IN THIS STUDY

THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT
Social presence is “the ability of participants in online discussions
both to perceive other participants as ‘real people’
and to project themselves socially and affectively into the discussion”
Based within Garrison et al.’s (2000, 2010) Community of Inquiry framework
- Swan (2005), p. 20

QUALITATIVE PARADIGM
 No objective truth; reality is subjective
 Natural setting
 State own biases
 Evolving research design
 Data findings are interpretations
- Creswell (2007)

MY BIASES & ASSUMPTIONS
 I Goffman
 Context matters
 Views as an educator
 Previous, course-based research
 Not acceptable to use findings from grad students

METHODOLOGY
 Case study approach
 5 students approaching graduation, ages 20-25 (2F & 3M)
 Data collection:
 Perceptions of AOD survey / Demographic survey
 Individual and group interviews
 Analysis of AOD transcripts

OLC_Accelerate_2016_K.Harrison_social_presence_handouts-long_version

FINDINGS RE: SOCIAL PRESENCE
Mark
Sometimes when you hear that real-life experience, it shows that you are
human. You actually did this stuff and it's not just words.

Marti
I'm thinking about them as people. I don't necessarily picture "I know who
this is”…I just think, "Oh, someone just went through this!“… I almost think
about it like if I was doing my own research and someone said this about it.

Jay
I went through situations similar to the one you described. It's hard to stop
yourself say certain words when you've said them unconsciously all the time.
Growing up the phrase “that's gay” wasn't to offend those who are
homosexual. I honestly thought it meant stupid because that's the way
everybody else was using it. However, now that I'm older I understand why
it's such a horrible thing to say.

Mark
See, this is interesting. Because kind of looking back at my [critical thinking]
class, where I would put more thought into it and more of myself, what
happened to me and whatnot, it shows here, too….I did it, again.

Jay
As a child, my mom read me many books. There was one book in particular called
The Empty Pot which was about a boy in China who entered in a contest to
become the successor of the Emperor…. There was only one boy who stayed
honest and he was rewarded because of it. I try to live my life by understanding
these lessons I've learned through books I've read and films I've watched. Be
honest, treat others with respect, fight for what you believe in, and hold onto faith,
are a few lessons that are constantly being retaught through all different types of
literature.

Mark
His favorite types of discussions were “the questions where it asks [you
to] tell a story about something in your past, [or to tell about when]
you've had experience with this and this, because I actually like telling
stories. For me, it's fun.”

Marti
That's a great point Student 7, the operating system was a huge evolution in
the business. On the business side it made things run a lot smoother and
operate better, but on the employee side it affect many that where replace
by the systems

Jay
I understand your point of view Student 1 however, if the job doesn't in
anyhow tie into the subject of White Supremacist group then I would
definitely report him.

Jay
I don't necessarily have things I want to accomplish in the [course-
based] discussion posts, where in a car forum, everyone has this
common goal to accomplish something.” I don't necessarily have things
I want to accomplish in the [course-based] discussion posts, where in a
car forum, everyone has this common goal to accomplish something.”

Jessica
“Student 15, that looks great to me.”
“I really like that example, Student 5!”
“I think you have some great responses here, Student 17.”

Al
why would you lean more towards gender rather than the time of year? you
could do time of year on a month to month scale and then break it down by
gender and then by age group

Mark
Very good point. I also want to add that you might want to give examples
that your audience can relate so they themselves can see themselves using
your product.

Jessica
You can discuss about it online, sure, but you don't really get anything
out of it. You're just saying, "Oh yeah, this is how I would do that.” …I
got absolutely nothing out of the discussions….It was just definitions
and useless things. Having an online discussion for this class was
ridiculously pointless...If you're stuck on one point, you can't go any
farther.

Al
Sometimes you've got to throw something controversial out there just
to get a response. Otherwise it's just going to be another post in the
threaded discussions….It dead ends right there.

 Emotions, humor, and values
 Liked being able to express themselves
 Purpose is interaction (frustration with lack)
 Described satisfaction with open-ended questions that allowed for
personalities
 Didn’t feel communities were being created / lack of cohesion

WHAT WAS LEARNED ABOUT SOCIAL PRESENCE?
 Evidence of social presence for all participants
 Affected by expectations, previous experiences (or lack), structure of
discussion prompts, instructor behaviors
 When structure & content support – develop social presence
 When don’t – frustration, lack of motivation, dissatisfaction – lack of
social presence

WHAT ARE THE EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS?
 Purpose of AOD: Want to express personalities & hear multiple perspectives
 Desire connection between content & own lives
 Perceived lack of community
 Frustrated with inability to communicate meaningfully (“easy points”)
 Differences between participation and interaction

IMPLICATIONS
 Teach students & faculty how to develop social presence and use it to
participate as part of a learning community.
 Ensure students & instructors are aware of the purpose of AOD.
 Explicitly teach students how to participate in AOD, with an emphasis on how
and why to disagree.
 Provide concrete examples of high-quality discussion posts.
 Align assessment with AOD goals.

LIMITATIONS
 Interpreted by me, a version of the truth
 Limited by context
 May be suggestive of patterns but may not be generalizable

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
 Continued exploration of students’ experiences
 Development of critical thinking skills in AOD, specific to undergraduates
 Mandatory AOD for instructors
 Discrepancies between instructor and student expectations

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