Social activity versus cognitive density?

Exploring the role of social presencein computer supported

collaborative learning and teaching

Wide Open Symposium 2011

Mirjam Hauck and Sylvia Warnecke

what is social presence?

the degree of salience of the other person in a mediated interaction and the consequent salience of the interpersonal interaction

(Short et al. 1976)

social presence can ‘be cultured’ […] and is both a factor of the medium and of the communicators and their presence in a sequence of interactions

(Gunawardena and Zittle 1997)

the ability of learners to project themselves socially and affectively into a community of inquiry

(Rourke et al. 1999)

the social presence construct […] hypothesizes modes of social presence including the textual demonstration of affect, group cohesion, and open communication necessary to establish a sense of trust and, ideally, membership in a community dedicated to joint knowledge construction.

(Shea et al. 2010)

social presence within a community of inquiry(Garrison et al. 2000)

the module: students, tutors, tools, and components

English for Academic Purposes online

studentsmix of• native speakers and non-native speakers• academic backgrounds• objectives for study• experience with distance/online learning• e-literacy skills

→ a multifaceted Community of Inquiry

tutors• many new to the Open University• many new to the specific student mix• all new to a course taught entirely online• some with experience of using email for teaching and

learning purposes• many new to tutoring via forum

→ a similarly multifaceted Community of Inquiry!

tools• tailor-made version of Moodle• course wide forum, tutor group forum, tutor forum• Elluminate• eTMA system • embedded audio recording tool• wiki

the tutor training programme: aims, structure, topics

English for Academic Purposes online

aimsfamiliarisation of tutors with:• peer group• materials• the teaching and learning environment• forms of moderation using different tools on the module• the challenges of teaching through forum moderation

structure• 6 weeks, 3 activities, 2-3 hours per week• 2 activities: practical approach talking about own

experiences, sharing ideas, etc.• 1 activity: theoretical approach with further reading• in a dedicated forum• training overlapped with tutors starting to teach the

module by 4 weeks

topics• getting to know the module website• sharing an icebreaker idea• purposes of online groups• dealing with difficult messages and code of conduct (forums)• motivation • patterns of participation• forms of moderation in other Web 2.0 tools• error correction• assessment of forum contributions

Week 3 Activity 1: Patterns of participation: forum

Dear all,

This week we will consider two key issues with regard to the tutor role in asynchronous communication with student groups: motivation and participation. We want to find out to what extent our work can tip the balance either in favour or against participation and whether what [participant] calls 'let students get on with it' is something we need to take on board and to communicate to our groups.

Now:

•Think about your own patterns of participation (either as a moderator or as a student). How often, when, why, how intensively do you participate?

•Then have a look at the attached document which is a collation of common patterns of online participation as categorised by G. Salmon (2002).

• Which one applies to yourself? Is there anything you have learned that you want to practise in order to help your group become / be / stay active?

patterns of participation: forum

the conceptual framework

English for Academic Purposes online

experiential modelling• all of the tools and processes were modelled and

experienced by the participants during the training

This experiential modeling approach to familiarizing practicing teachers with technology seems to be a positive step towards engendering in teachers the competence and confidence to use new technologies with their learners to help them, in turn, to maximize their language learning.

(Hoven 2006)

exploratory practice

Third-party research in general cannot meet our purposes, and practitioner research, the form of AR [action research], has not yet taken us far enough away from the third-party model to overcome these limitations. […] The first two parties for research on education are the teachers and the learners.

(Allwright and Hanks 2009)

taking a closer look …

English for Academic Purposes online

data collection

• surveys: after completion of the training programme, mid-end-course, end-of-course

• forum contributions (tutor forum)• evaluative online meeting in Elluminate

social presence indicatorsAffective Interactive Cohesive

Paralanguage Greetings and salutations

Acknowledgement

Emotion Vocatives Agreement/disagreement

Value Group reference Approval

Humour Social sharing Invitation

Self-disclosure Course reflection Personal advice

Swan (2002) building on Rourke et al. (1999)

Hi [participant],Thanks for that.  […]  I then, thought that the extended deadline was for the wiki one. I KNOW, HOW SILLY AM I? Never mind, it's all about learning eh?

Thanks for this [participant]. The questionnaire you propose for scenario 2 would certainly not be an easy one to write. […] Would there by any useful follow up to these […]?[…]Enjoyed reading these [participant] and as you can see they made me think!

HI [participant], good to meet you! Do they still have concrete cows in Milton Keynes? I think you're very lucky to be close to The O.U.... think I saw the concrete cows on a roundabout?Looking forward to our Elluminate sessions together!

more examples …

English for Academic Purposes online

affective social presence indicators: emotions • When I get a minute  I enjoy going to the

cinema and eating out with friends, mostly trying out the various curry houses of Bradford.

• We would all make very good sleuths !  

• They could also agree with ideas other students had posted before and come to their own conclusions.  After a couple of days I would put them out of their misery ;-)

affective social presence indicators: self-disclosure

affective/interactive social presence indicators:

self-disclosure and continuing a thread I think all these kinds of classifications have to be used with caution … I guess our forum identity is as multifaceted as any other (what is a multilingual forum identity like???) … I think … our behaviour on a forum is similar to our behaviour elsewhere.

I tend to be quite active in my interactions with students on forums. I feel that if they know I am paying attention, then they will do more to be "seen." I also respond to students with questions, but leave openings for other students to comment as well.

interactive social presence indicators:

greetings and salutations It depends a lot on my mood and on the subject others are talking about. When I am very interested in a subject I participate, but I also get pretty easily bored and then I concentrate on other stuff instead.It’s nice to see that I am not the only squirrel here ^_^.Greetings to all,

cohesive social presence indicators:

addressing the group

My participation pattern depends very much on the forum and the people who are using it. And it also depends on my current workload. In an interesting forum I'm usually among the most active writers and tend to be a "rabbit". […] I also try to embody the qualities of the "dolphin", but this is not easy. Decide for yourself how well I do. Well, I will hold back now and let other people shine through in this discussion. ;-) 

some findings

Social presence vs cognitive density?

experiential modelling as a training approach

I would also like to focus on the Elluminate training sessions, led by different tutors. Again, these were so well structured and well managed - a model for how to do it. And if things occasionally went a teeny bit awry, that was great too, as it added a human element . It was also great to see other tutors' forums; I have certainly learned from those, and would pick out my colleague [name] in particular as someone who seems to me to always get the tone right.

The training we had at the start of the course was just excellent, not just for the focus on different aspects of VLE and forums and the needs of the online/distance learner, but also for the model it provided of how to respond to posts. It created a 'safe' environment on the forums; for example, the trainer never made me feel 'put down', regardless of the stupidity of my comment or question; I have pinched phrases she used in her replies in my own responses to students.

training for social presence

subjective projections of self … into technology mediated environments, subjective assessments of others’ presence and assessments of the subject’s relations with others(Kehrwald 2010)

What would you consider the key purpose of forums for students?

A. Peer support and group cohesion (unanimous)

B. Content building

C. Language training

D. Assessment preparation

E. Contacting the tutor

sending and reading social presence

cues/indicators

through seeing and experiencing how others project themselves into the environment, how others interact with one another and how others react to their personal efforts to cultivate a social presence(Kehrwald 2010)

How have the students mainly interacted?

A. Gave feedback on each others’ work (unanimous)

B. Asked for help with course work

C. Helped each other prepare assignments

D. Socialised

E. Corrected each others’ mistakes

What’s the take away?

• importance of training in social presence • social activity outweighs cognitive density

(Arnold and Ducate 2006) → not necessarily the case!• shifting roles/identities

As an emailer, I am a 100% rabbit; as a forum participant, perhaps not. (I fear I might be a mole, but I hope not.) I read all the posts with interest, but am rather erratic with contributing. To be honest, for the moment I feel I am busy getting my head around the mechanics of forums, and working online. As a moderator, my priority is to respond quickly, to encourage interaction, especially at this early stage of the course. 

→ added value of experiential modelling!

to be explored …

Social presence vs cognitive density?

negotiation of social presence

When online teaching is viewed from the position of instructors as subjects, the tensions and contradictions that occur in the system can provide a useful description of the negotiation of teaching presence in online courses.

Morgan (2011)

social presence in a wider context

• social presence and cognitive presence Shea et al. (2010)

• social presence and teaching presence Shea et al. (2010)

• social presence and identity Morgan (2011) – social presence = negotiation of identity etc.

a new approach ...

Social presence vs cognitive density?

The Community Indicators Framework

(Galley et al. 2010)

Mirjam Hauck and Sylvia WarneckeFaculty of Education and Language StudiesDepartment of LanguagesThe Open Universitym.hauck@open.ac.uk and s.warnecke@open.ac.uk