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Background: Online synchronous learning in higher education frequently struggles to overcome the social presence gap, resulting in dissatisfaction and poor learning outcomes. Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of desktop‐based virtual reality (VR) social platforms compared to video conferencing (VC) platforms in enhancing students' learning gains and experiences in online synchronous learning. Methods: The study used a within‐subject design, involving 34 college students in two online lecture modules, one via a VR social platform and another through a VC platform. Knowledge assessments occurred pre‐ and post‐modules and after 1 week. Students also completed post‐module questionnaires to evaluate their learning experience, in terms of social presence, easiness of use and perceived emotions. In‐depth interviews provided further insights into their experiences with both platforms. Results: The study showed that using VR social platforms for online synchronous learning enhanced immediate knowledge, especially in students less interested in the content, yet it did not notably impact long‐term knowledge retention. Despite no significant findings in social presence from questionnaires, interviews indicated that the VR's heightened interactivity might be offset by the effect of not seeing others' real appearances in promoting social presence. Furthermore, the VC platform was found to be easier to use, attributed to its familiarity and user‐friendliness. Finally, students experienced increased fun, awe and interest, along with reduced boredom, when using the VR social platform. Conclusion: The findings highlight the potential of VR to enrich online learning while underscoring the need for effective strategies facilitating a smooth integration into educational settings. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic: Social presence is crucial in online learning.VC platforms may fail to efficiently bridge the social presence gap.VR social platforms can enhance students' experience in online education. What does this paper add: Compares VR and VC effects on learning gains and experiences.Highlights VR's potential to boost immediate knowledge gains.Reveals VR's benefits for emotional engagement. Implications for practice or policy: Suggests integrating VR for more engaging online education.Underlines the need for user‐friendly VR technology.Advocates for training to maximize VR's educational benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) learning efficiency is recognized as the ultimate goal of online education, as it is related to the quality of online education and the cognitive development of students and is influenced by social interactions. This study explores the mediating roles of social presence and learning engagement in the relationship between social interaction and online learning efficiency, addressing gaps in prior studies that have not yet identified the underlying mechanisms. (2) students from three middle schools (N = 344; Mage = 13.61; 56.68% women) completed self-report questionnaires regarding social interaction, social presence, learning engagement, and learning efficiency. (3) the study findings reveal significant serial mediation effects of social presence and learning engagement in the relationship between learner–instructor and learner–learner interactions and learning efficiency. Specifically, while the indirect effect of learner–instructor interaction through social presence alone (indirect effect = 0.08, 95% CI = [−0.00, 0.17]) was not significant, the pathways through learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.18, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.26]) and the combined mediation through both social presence and learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.09]) were statistically significant. Similarly, for learner–learner interaction, the indirect effects through social presence (indirect effect = 0.09, 0.17) and learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.24]) were significant, as was the serial mediation through both mediators (indirect effect = 0.07, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.11]). (4) social presence and learning engagement played crucial mediating roles in the links between social interactions and online learning efficiency, and the predictive efficacy of learner–learner and learner–instructor interactions on online learning efficiency was found to be unequal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of technology and the recent Covid-19 has moved a substantial part of education into online environments, and video-based learning has become a common format of online learning. An alternative to enhance the co-learning experience in video-based online learning is to make use of immersive virtual reality (VR) technology. The current study focused on how to build a sense of being together in an immersive VR classroom for video-based learning, when individual learners can schedule and pace their learning on their own. Two alternative in-class interaction mechanisms for video-based learning were proposed (i.e., real-time interaction and timeline-anchored interaction). The impact of in-class interaction design was investigated, together with the impact of different styles of visual embodiment of learners (i.e., realistic and cartoon-styled), through a laboratory experiment involving 48 participants, and the influences on learners' immersion in a VR classroom, identification with the avatars, perceived social presence of peer learners, and learning outcomes were analyzed. The results showed that enabling in-class interaction with peer learners in VR classrooms enhances immersion in the learning environment and their identification of peer avatars, as well as helping learners to develop a stronger co-presence and more intimate perception of peers. Whereas real-time interaction improves perceived social presence the most, the reduced learning outcome suggests that it may distract learners from the video. The timeline-anchored interaction, on the other hand, improves social presence at no cost of learning performance. Appearance style, however, has no significant influence on learning experiences and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some research has shown that using videos in online courses can promote learner's connection to the instructor (Banerjee et al., 2020). This quasi-experimental self-study aimed to explore the impact of brief three-minute instructor-generated videos in twin segments of an online graduate teacher education seminar focused on Globalization, Communities, and Schools. Specifically, we sought to understand the extent to which the insertion of these videos influenced teacher candidates' perceptions of the dynamics of a Community of Inquiry (CoI) and their overall satisfaction as learners. The quantitative analysis of survey data using T-tests showed no statistically significant difference in overall learner satisfaction, social presence, teaching presence, or instructor social presence between the course with and without videos. However, there were significant differences in several individual items within each survey instrument. Student interviews and course evaluation comments were examined for themes revealing the strong presence of the instructor in various ways such as personalized feedback and caring tone. These findings suggest that while the videos may not have a significant impact on overall satisfaction, they do contribute to a more personalized and caring learning environment. Follow-up discussions with the instructor also revealed the reluctance to include short videos was grounded in his fear of inadvertently compromising the accessibility standards he wanted to honor–suggesting a continued need for growth in online instructors' digital competencies and additional research into the perceived obstacles of expanding modalities of online graduate teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have great potential for supporting learning experiences with a high social and teaching presence. One particular MUVE of note is Mozilla Hubs, a system of open-source virtual worlds that allow users to join sessions and interact as avatars. To date, prior studies have not examined teaching and social presence in the Mozilla Hubs environment as compared to face-to-face and web conferencing learning modes. The current study does this by comparing social and teaching presence in two university classes using the well-established community of inquiry questionnaire. Overall findings suggest that participants experienced the same amount of teaching and social presence in face-to-face, Webex and Hubs learning sessions. The implications of this study suggest that the communication medium used may not significantly influence key aspects of teaching and social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contribution to ongoing discussions about the implications of social presence for online instruction technology, this study evaluated the reliability and validity of a composite social presence construct in online computer science programmes using archival data from the Computing Research Association's (CRA) Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) Data Buddies Survey. Questions from the survey were aligned to three interdependent subconstructs of social presence proposed by Kreijns et al (2021). Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to analyse the relationships between the subconstructs. Cronbach's alpha was used to evaluate the internal consistency and reliability of the subconstructs of social presence, sociability, and social space, as well as the composite construct of social presence. The findings indicate that the social presence construct and its subconstructs are internally consistent and highly reliable, aligned with the CERP survey. Results indicated that the subconstructs are interrelated indicators of the perception of social presence in online computer science programmes. This study contributes to the literature concerning measuring social presence in online learning by providing a reliable and valid construct that can be used to assess the construct using different permutations of analysis on the CERP dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of silence has been investigated in face-to-face learning over the years. It is one of the main concerns in physical classes since it may prevent the quality of teaching and learning and cause a challenge for instructors to negotiate with their students comprehensively. With the advent of technology, online learning has been significant for educators and students, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In an online learning environment, silence becomes more common than in physical classes and may become a problem in interaction. Hence, this study aims to explore silence in online learning to understand how students experience silence. Fifteen Vietnamese undergraduates were purposefully selected for in-depth interviews using phenomenographic analysis. Two categories were found: low social connectedness and high social connectedness. Students are less involved in social connection, showing their independence and navigation, forming low social connectedness. In contrast, high social connectedness involves more peers and social networks. The findings illustrate the multilayers and complexities of students’ silence in an online learning and point out new findings to discover potentially in language learning. It implies that silence is multifaceted and distinguished into non-navigational and navigational online learning conceptions. It implies educators’ pedagogical practices in provoking students’ attention in online learning and evaluating online presence.

Research informing adult education teachers' didactic practices in distance education is scarce. Approaching the adult learner's perspectives on how distance education is perceived is key to informing future initiatives. This study explores adult learners' perception of distance education, concentrating on aspects such as, social presence, course structure, and perceived learning and satisfaction. A survey was distributed to teachers (n = 78) in five schools organising adult distance education. Findings show that teacher accessibility and course structure correlated positively with social presence and perceived learning and satisfaction. Overall, adult learners are satisfied with their distance teaching. A challenge facing adult distance education is to create a sense of social presence despite the high demand for flexibility. Thus, we explored learner perceptions of benefits and challenges in distance education and structured these into social, cognitive, spatio-temporal, emotional, and technical dimensions. Findings reveal that one challenge in the social dimension was a lack of connection with peers, and a benefit in the cognitive dimension referred to autonomy and self-regulation. These findings are important as educational institutions and policymakers may strive for high flexibility, which in turn may lead to lower group cohesion and a lack of social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online learning has become increasingly popular in the educational environment, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research aims to describe the social presence and satisfaction of students in online learning, as well as examine the relationship between social presence and student satisfaction. A cross-sectional online study was conducted, involving 508 Indonesian and Malaysian postgraduate students from August 5 to October 2, 2023. Participants completed the social presence and student satisfaction scale developed by Gunawardena and Zittle. Data analysis techniques included descriptive statistics, the Man-Whitney test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation using SPSS 26.00. The social presence and student satisfaction were categorized as good, as there were no items with scores below average. Univariate analysis indicated that the online learning experience and the quality of the network in the place of residence were determining factors for the differences between the variables, while other characteristics, including the country (Indonesia and Malaysia), showed no significant differences. Correlation analysis indicated a positive relationship between social presence and student satisfaction. This research has important implications for improving the quality of online learning. Universities should consider revising their curriculum to be more ICT-friendly, helping students become familiar with using the platform. Educational policies should also focus on training and developing educators to effectively implement online learning. Additionally, government support is crucial in realizing high-quality online learning.

(1) learning efficiency is recognized as the ultimate goal of online education, as it is related to the quality of online education and the cognitive development of students and is influenced by social interactions. This study explores the mediating roles of social presence and learning engagement in the relationship between social interaction and online learning efficiency, addressing gaps in prior studies that have not yet identified the underlying mechanisms. (2) students from three middle schools (N = 344; Mage = 13.61; 56.68% women) completed self-report questionnaires regarding social interaction, social presence, learning engagement, and learning efficiency. (3) the study findings reveal significant serial mediation effects of social presence and learning engagement in the relationship between learner–instructor and learner–learner interactions and learning efficiency. Specifically, while the indirect effect of learner–instructor interaction through social presence alone (indirect effect = 0.08, 95% CI = [−0.00, 0.17]) was not significant, the pathways through learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.18, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.26]) and the combined mediation through both social presence and learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.09]) were statistically significant. Similarly, for learner–learner interaction, the indirect effects through social presence (indirect effect = 0.09, 0.17) and learning engagement (indirect effect = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.24]) were significant, as was the serial mediation through both mediators (indirect effect = 0.07, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.11]). (4) social presence and learning engagement played crucial mediating roles in the links between social interactions and online learning efficiency, and the predictive efficacy of learner–learner and learner–instructor interactions on online learning efficiency was found to be unequal.

Online learning has gained prominence due to numerous success stories, becoming a vital component and instrument for reforming classrooms in higher vocational education. However, the physical detachment inherent in online self-directed learning has raised concerns about student disengagement and isolation during the learning process. Social presence theory provides a unique perspective, methods, and tools for researching online learning. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature, with a focus on social presence, learning satisfaction, and persistence. The results reveal the intricate impact of social presence on learning satisfaction and persistence in online learning environments. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to uncover research findings from May 2013 to June 2023. The selected articles underwent a thorough assessment, and duplicates were removed. The updated criteria for conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses were used for the literature review. The research team critically analysed, finalised, and deliberated on the significance of the SLR. Out of the 220 papers initially considered, 28 met the specific criteria for adjustment and inclusion/exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is tough and challenging to learn several computer-based subjects via an online learning setting during COVID-19 for students from the education field. It required a lot of skills, techniques, understanding among students, and the ability to think critically to solve problems. To date, a lack of studies provides digital content as learning approaches to computer-based subject students for their learning via online learning. Thus, the problem-solving oriented e-module in learning computer-based subject via Facebook for Higher Education was proposed. An exploratory sequential research design (qualitative and then quantitative approach) has been used in this study. Research samples were selected based on purposive sampling (10 students) to find out what they needed from the e-module. Then, the module was developed based on ADDIE Model and problem-solving learning strategy. There were nine experts validated the e-module in terms of the ADDIE model approach, problem-solving approach, and content. This module was tested on 34 undergraduate students towards students’ performance and social presence for quantitative part. The t-test showed that the e-module significantly improved student performance (p 0.00; t=5.52) with Cohen’s d=0.944. Interestingly, the results from the content analysis show that this module fosters social presence via Facebook learning groups such as interactive, affective, and cohesive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The community of inquiry (Col) framework identifies three essential elements--social, cognitive, and teaching presences--that are crucial for a successful online learning experience. This study utilized the Col framework to examine whether differences existed in students' perceived Col presences between online and face-to-face sections of an introductory undergraduate IT course. The results indicated significant differences in social and teaching presences between the two delivery modes. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that social, cognitive, and teaching presences were significant predictors of students' course satisfaction, and different instructors significantly influenced social presence. However, a close comparison of both delivery modes taught by the same instructor showed no differences in the Col presences. These findings suggest that while students experience different levels of presence across different delivery modes, teachers have the potential to mitigate these differences and contribute to successful online learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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During the global pandemic, teachers and students were forced to quickly adjust teaching and learning to fit in the new socially distanced world. Along with the challenge of establishing effective online teaching tools came the need to create social spaces for connecting with students through teacher-student interactions. This study followed the practices of K–12 teachers who were also graduate students seeking an advanced endorsement in literacy as they grappled with problems and solutions of online learning during an intensive K–12 literacy tutoring program. The researchers honed in on the work of one focal teacher as she carved out a new social space for connecting with her students. This work resulted in the identification of specific criteria for three dimensions of social presence: relationship building, engagement, and social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online distance learning presents unique psychosocial characteristics due to the inherent distance between learners. Social presence –the sense of being with others– is key to mitigating this distance. However, our understanding of social presence remains limited, despite its potential to reduce social isolation and cultivate a conducive social space in online education. A gap in our understanding relates to how social presence aligns with more general accounts of interpersonal representations under conditions of psychological distance, as presented in Construal Level Theory. We conducted a vignette-based experiment (N = 194) to examine how psychological distance in online learning affects the mental construal level of a hypothetical partner and, thus, social presence perceptions. Findings suggest that increased psychological distance leads to higher-level construals, resulting in a perception of conversation partners as non-descript and homogenous. Importantly, this affects social presence perceptions, with certain nuances. These findings can inform novel approaches to enhance social presence in online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The communicative approach to teaching Russian as a foreign language (RFL) implies that the main goal - the acquisition of communication skills - can only be achieved in a stimulative communicative environment. Meanwhile, the online format, which is currently becoming popular, is characterized by limited interaction between the participants of the educational process. Thus, the problem of developing methodological foundations for a productive communicative environment in the process of online teaching is becoming acute for the methodology of teaching RFL. The aim of this study is to describe the features of educational communication, determined by Chinese cultural and educational traditions, on the material of monolingual groups from China studying Russian in Russian universities, and to develop a methodological framework for creating a productive communicative environment for synchronous RFL online lessons, considering the specifics of students' communicative behavior. The study material included 10 synchronous online RFL lessons with a total duration of 15 hours and 51 minutes. Monolingual groups of Chinese students (A2-B2) participated in the lessons. A content analysis method using Atlas.ti software was applied to process the results. Coding was based on a deductive approach with elements of inductive approach; the coding system was based on the category of social presence, operationalized and adapted to the specifics of RFL learning. The prevalence of several communication behavior patterns among Chinese students, which conflict with the current methodological principles, was shown. At the same time, deviations from conventional behavior of Chinese students at the analyzed RFL classes were observed. This suggested that despite the strong influence of cultural attitudes, the parameters of the communicative environment of an online lesson may vary depending on the teacher's efforts. It is argued that the formation of communicative environment of a synchronous online RFL lesson requires that the teacher possesses the ability to manage the interactivity of communication, to form an atmosphere of cooperation and cohesion in the online group, to maintain emotionality of online communication. The study contributes to the development of digital language teaching, forming a scientific basis for creating methodological technologies of a productive educational environment in RFL online teaching.

This study investigates the influence of social presence on online learning in Indonesian bachelor's degree programs. The objective is to identify effective strategies for enhancing students' online learning experiences by promoting social presence. Data was collected through 20 semi-structured interviews and 269 online surveys, analyzing qualitative and quantitative information. The findings highlight a significant positive relationship between social presence, engagement, happiness, and academic success in online courses. Notably, increasing one unit of social presence leads to a remarkable 10.28-point improvement in academic achievement. These results emphasize the importance of prioritizing interaction, collaboration, and community building in the online learning environment. Policymakers and educators can utilize these insights to design effective online courses tailored to bachelor's degree students' unique needs. By incorporating strategies that foster social presence and create a sense of belonging, educators can enhance students' engagement, satisfaction, and overall learning experiences. Therefore, this research underscores the significance of social presence in online learning and provides valuable insights to improve students' academic achievements and online learning experiences.

This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the learning experience, using the community of inquiry (CoI) framework, that contribute to students' satisfaction with online learning and academic performance during the pandemic. Data were collected from 609 undergraduate students at four private universities in Malaysia through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was derived from the community inquiry survey and the satisfaction with the online learning questionnaire. The empirical results indicated that the primary factors influencing students' satisfaction with online learning were cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence, in that order of importance. The model was further tested with specific measures of online learning satisfaction, including online course interaction, instruction, course management, instructor quality, and satisfaction with the technology used in the course. Factor reduction analysis groups satisfaction into three categories: "interaction, instruction, and course management" were combined into one category, which includes the course instructor and the technology. Stepwise correlation analysis indicated that all the CoI areas had a significant influence on the satisfaction of all three groups, except for the impact of social presence on the satisfaction of online instructors. Among the predictors, cognitive presence consistently played a significant role in all aspects of satisfaction and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social presence is an important concept for understanding psychosocial processes in learning scenarios that make extensive use of mediated communication like online distance learning. Despite this centrality, a coherent and nuanced theory of social presence is yet to emerge from the literature. Past research has shown associations with desirable affective variables like satisfaction and perceived learning, yet our knowledge as to when and for whom these effects are expected is still very limited. By introducing two contextual explanatory variables, we provide the means toward a more mature theory of social presence. The first variable, social presence divergence, relates students experiences to their preferences, yielding three distinct scenarios: too little, too much, and just the right amount of social presence. The second variable, interaction integration, considers the centrality of social interaction in the learning scenario, suggesting that this functions as a moderator. In a sample of teacher education students (N = 305), we find evidence that these variables interact with social presence and affective dependent variables as expected. These results add nuance and context to the discussion about the practical relevance of social presence. The implications of these findings as well as limitations of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study investigates learners' experiences in online international collaborative environments using both asynchronous and synchronous communication methods. Specifically, it focuses on the rewards, shortcomings, and difficulties learners encountered through posing critical questions about the nature of collaboration forms. Eight graduate interview participants completed two separate instructional technology courses, and an interpretive qualitative approach was used to deepen the understanding of the interview responses. The findings suggest a few key themes, primarily positive in nature, about the use of online international collaboration tools. While asynchronous communication platforms help to enhance, enrich, and expand course content, media-rich synchronous communication platforms allow learners to have a more significant sense of social presence, encouraging them to be more actively engaged in the learning environment. Synchronous communication platforms also help to enhance intercultural understanding and develop non-verbal communication skills. In addition to commentary about communication platforms, the participants expressed immense satisfaction with learning various skills (i.e., research and interpersonal skills, project planning, and digital literacy) in the international collaboration projects. Despite their success, the participants did encounter several challenges, most notably the incompatibility of their respective academic calendars. This is perhaps the most ubiquitous obstacle in the collegiate online collaborative learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online learning always piques the interest of scholars because of the potential outcomes. Social presence is associated with the degree of participation, interaction, and performance among collaborative group members and, therefore, is considered a critical variable for learning. Researchers have observed that for online learning to work well, students must feel connected to their peers and teachers. Social presence connects the real and online worlds, putting an online learner in touch with the teacher and other online learners. This study aims to investigate the interrelationships between social presence dimensions and cognitive presence, explore the critical social presence dimension influencing cognitive presence, and explore students’ experiences of social presence in online learning. The findings showed that social presence greatly influenced cognitive presence. However, affective collectiveness, open communication, and a sense of community were correlated and positively impacted cognitive presence, while the mutual attention and support dimensions were not correlated and did not significantly contribute to cognitive presence. Besides, students perceived themselves as having difficulties with open communication and online group activities. It is suggested that silence is an integral part of social presence, and it can be a silence-mediated social presence. Therefore, the role of silence should be reconsidered, as it has its own meaning. The findings imply that fostering a sense of mutual support and understanding is essential in online learn)ing, as is providing practical guidance to ensure open communication. Moreover, instructors should focus on creating a sense of connectedness and cohesiveness in collaborative learning to achieve meaningful learning outcomes and a strong sense of community among students [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 22 undergraduate business students' online learning experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown in Pakistan (as the pandemic was the only time these students were enrolled as online students in Pakistan), this study demonstrates that online learning is a multi-level phenomenon and a practice situated within the environment. Despite online learning being a heavily researched area, research has under-examined the interaction of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework with the context. By adopting an ecological perspective, and by examining the interaction of micro, meso, and macro levels, this qualitative research provides useful insights into the interaction of the individual (micro-level) captured through the CoI framework, with the broader environment in which learners are located (meso and macro levels). It contributes to research on online learning broadly, and the CoI framework specifically, by revealing that each element of the CoI framework (micro-level), is influenced by macro (developing country), as well as meso (institutional policies and institutional preparedness) levels. It also spotlights the negotiated relationship between the individual and the systemic forces. The findings of this study are particularly relevant given that online education has the potential to become a norm in higher education in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Online social presence is one of the main contributors which has a significant impact on student's academic performance.Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the online social presence among medical students using the Persian Version of the Online Social Presence Questionnaire (OSPQ) after determining its psychometric properties.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 303 medical students at Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2021. The participants were selected through quota sampling. A two-part online questionnaire containing demographic data and the Persian version of the Online Social Presence Questionnaire (OSPQ) was used for data collection. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20.0 and LISREL version 8.80. Internal consistency of the Persian version was determined. ANOVA, Independent T-test, and multiple linear regression were also used. The significance level was considered as 0.05.Results: Out of 303 medical students, 63.7 percent were female with a mean age of 22.83±2.84 years. The mean score of the social identity subscale (P = 0.001) and the total score (P = 0.03) was significantly higher in females. Also, the mean of the intimacy subscale was significantly higher in interns and basic sciences students compared to pre-clinical students. (P = 0.006) The Cronbach alpha coefficient ranged from 0.70 to 0.93 for the whole scale and its subscales. The factor loading of all items was at an acceptable level ranging from 0.4 to 0.95. Almost all of the goodness of fit indices had excellent levels.Conclusion: Our study revealed that the Persian version of OSPQ is a simple, valid, and reliable tool to assess medical students’ sense of social presence in an online environment.

This study is conducted to investigate the effectiveness and readiness of teaching and learning among students during the pandemic (COVID-19) towards the online learning among hospitality and tourism students. A quantitative method was employed and students from the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management Penang Campus were chosen as the target sample. The sample size for this study was 430 and a total of 360 questionnaires were successfully collected with the return rate of 83.72%. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret the demographic data, Pearson Correlation analysis was employed to examine the correlation among variables, and multiple regression analysis was used to measure the overall relationship between independent and dependent variables. From these analyses, the three (3) variables (social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence) were found to have positive relationships with a student's learning experience. Overall, this study is important to fellow academicians, academic researchers, and practitioners in improving their methods of teaching and learning, assisting the students, and strengthening their teaching techniques in online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although fully online learning is now the 'new normal' in many parts of the world, its implementation is often beset by challenges such as the lack of student self-regulation, and the sense of isolation. In this paper, we explored the use of chatbots to support student goal setting (Study 1) and social presence (Study 2) in online activities. In Study 1, participants in a fully online course were invited to complete a goal setting activity prior to attending class via a goal-setting chatbot. The chatbot engaged participants with five questions developed based on the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goal setting framework. In Study 2, English-as-Foreign-Language participants in a fully online course were tasked to complete listening practices. The learning buddy chatbot was designed based on the social presence framework (interpersonal communication, open communication, cohesive communication) to guide students through listening exercises. In both Study 1 and 2, we evaluated participants' behavioral engagement by measuring their conversation records with the chatbots, as well as participants' perceived usefulness and ease of use of the chatbots. We also gathered in-depth interview data concerning the participants' perceptions of interacting with the chatbots. Overall, our findings found positive learner experiences with both chatbots with regard to the chatbots' perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. We also provided suggestions for instructors to apply chatbots in teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction is an essential element of online learning and researchers had use Social Learning Analytics (SLA) to understand the characteristics of meaningful interaction. While the potential for network analysis in education (i.e., SLA) is valuable, limited research has considered how best to use this emerging field to inform meaningful interaction in online settings. Online learning researchers need a concise and simplified framework for SLA to support interaction in online learning environments. Therefore, we present a conceptual framework to make SLA accessible for researchers investigating learners' interactions in online learning. The framework includes concepts from network theory and the online learning literature integrated into a new perspective to analyze learners' online behaviors and interactions. We analyzed existing models and frameworks to show how network analysis has been used in online learning resulting in a conceptual environment to investigate learner interaction. The proposed i-SUN framework has four main steps: (1) interaction, (2) social presence alignment, (3) unit of analysis definition, and (4) network statistics and inferential analysis selection. We also identified five ways in which the i-SUN model contributes to the advancement of SLA in online interaction research and provide recommendations for empirical validation. As part of a sequence of manuscripts, we seek to offer a unique perspective to online learning researchers and practitioners by focusing on the social and pedagogical implications of applying network analysis to understand online learning interaction.

The role of motivation in online learning has been explored mostly as a predictor of course retention or satisfaction, rather than as an adaptive outcome in itself. We thus aimed to investigate how the features of motivation develop in online courses during the semester and how students' perceived teaching and social presences influence their motivational growth in online learning. A total of 152 college students responded to a questionnaire about motivational beliefs, expectancies, and task values, in an online course three times during a semester, as well as perceived teaching and social presences assessed once. Latent growth models reported all motivation variables significantly and positively developed over time, and the motivational growths were predicted by teaching and social presences. More precisely, teaching presence predicted baseline expectancies at the beginning of the course, while social presence predicted both baseline and growth of expectancies and intrinsic value over the course duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchronous computer-mediated communication in the online language classroom has gained growing attention in the wake of the worldwide epidemic. Nevertheless, only a few researchers have studied it through bibliometric analyses. This study aimed to retrospect the previous development and figure out the role of intercultural competence, social presence, and corrective feedback in synchronous computer-mediated communication-based language learning. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to analyze previous studies (n = 1292) by VOSviewer and CitNetExplorer. The findings revealed prolific authors, sources, organizations, and regions in tables, which indicated that scholars in this field were mainly located in the USA and China. With a rising research tendency, several heated topics were also presented with VOSviewer. The findings also signified that intercultural competence, social presence, and corrective feedback all played an important role in synchronous computer-mediated communication-based language learning and they were interdependent. Implications for future studies were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the community of Inquiry (CoI) framework the causal relationship of three presences is tested and explored. Prior literature extensively evaluates the practice and research of online learning using the CoI framework. The present study adapted the scale for the measurement of CoI framework to evaluate the causal association between social, teaching, and cognitive presence. Empirical findings indicate the social and teaching presence influence the cognitive presence and social presence significantly and positively influence the teaching and social presence. The findings affirms that the teaching presence sustain and establish community of inquiry. The dynamic association among the latent constructs across the institutions and disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Everyday five billion emojis are used on Facebook Messenger, one out of every five Twitter messages contains an emoji and half of all Instagram comments have an emoji (Emojipedia. org, 2022). The use of emojis in online text messages has become increasingly prevalent in not only informal online interactions between family and friends, but also in formal contexts such as WhatsApp messages used in online learning. Over the last decade the use of WhatsApp has evolved from being used for informal interactions to being used as a platform for online learning and teaching in schools and universities. As a learning platform it has proved effective for using text messages to exchange information and knowledge and discuss lesson content. In this article a group of undergraduate Afrikaans students' use of emojis in three different contexts (interactions with friends and family, peers, and tutors; and lecturers) is examined to ascertain how the differentiation in context influences their use of emojis, how the use of emojis influences their online communication and how social presence in online learning is influenced using emojis. To this end, a mixed-method approach in the form of a case study was used. Students' experiences of and attitudes towards the use of emojis were measured quantitatively and qualitatively using an electronic questionnaire that consisted of twenty-two questions. The questionnaire allowed for two sets of data to be gathered: quantitative data about the use of ten different emojis in three different contexts and qualitative data about student's motivations for their use. The findings are interpreted against the backdrop of existing research and within the framework of the Social Presence Theory (Short, Williams & Christie, 1976). In the modernday context this theory acknowledges that computer mediated communication (CMC) has a lower social presence than face-to-face communication due to the absence of non-verbal cues. Furthermore, it states that different types of CMC have different degrees of social presence because of their varying capacities to convey socio-emotional information. What follows is a summary of the most important findings. Students' use of emojis is influenced by context. More emojis are used in WhatsApp messages to friends and family, fewer in messages to peers and tutors and the least in messages to lecturers. There is also a differentiation in the type of emojis used in these interactions: face emojis tend to be used more in informal contexts whilst hand emojis are used more in formal learning contexts. Findings further indicate that because emojis save time and are fun to use they impact on student's online communication in different ways. The use of emojis not only enhances the correct interpretation of messages but also creates social presence. However, in cases where emojis are interpreted differently it may lead to misunderstandings therefore hampering successful communication. In communication between students, their peers and tutors the use of emojis results in the creation of a comfortable atmosphere and social presence conducive to learning. Fewer, if any, emojis are used in interactions between students and lecturers. When used it is mostly restricted to the use of the less emotive thumbs-up and praying hands emojis. Although students are not comfortable using emojis in their WhatsApp messages to lecturers (they regard online learning as a formal context and deem the use of emojis in this context as inappropriate) most respondents (41%) are undecided as to whether or not emojis have a role to play in enhancing online communication between students and lecturers during online learning. Students in favour of using emojis in this context, although in the minority, indicated that emojis might - just like in their interactions with peers and tutors - also help in this context to create a relaxed atmosphere and social presence conducive to learning. More research on this aspect of emoji use is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]