7 Steps to Creating Presence in Online Courses - Step 6

 

Online teaching and learning should be an experience where presence is felt by both instructors and learners. How is presence created?

 

The sixth step is to design your course step-by-step for presence and community. For this you'll need a design framework. The Design Framework we created in our presence book (Lehman & Conceição, 2010) includes the Learner-Centered Model discussed in Step 5 and six tools to use – we call the tools the Determinants of Presence: 

 

1.     Content

2.     Format

3.     Instructor Roles

4.     Strategies

5.     Technologies

6.     Support

 

The arrows connecting the model to the instructor and the determinants is the dynamic process you go through to revisit the Model and the Determinants as you develop your course. 

Reference

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass. 

7 Steps to Creating Presence in Online Courses - Step 5

 

The fifth step is to use a LEARNER-CENTERED MODEL. The learner-centered model we created in our presence book (Lehman & Conceição, 2010) helps instructors better understand the perceptual nature of students and ways in which the educational experience can be designed to create presence.

Learners are at the center of the model, with their thoughts, emotions and behavior. We call this center circle the Who. The next circle is the What, which indicates the interactive experiences that can be created for learners. For example, the instructor can incorporate:

1. objective experiences (Skype or electronic office hours to create a sense of objective presence)

2. subjective experiences (the use of names and learners’ experiences to incorporate the personal)

3. social experiences (interactive activities, group and team work, or discussion)

4. environmental experiences (which allow students to actually change the learning environment through feedback and formative course change)

The circle around the What is the How or Modes of Presence, the ways in which these interactions can be carried out. For example, the instructor can use:

1. realism (a simulation or a real life project)

2. immersion (Second Life or gamification)

3. involvement (debates, the discussion board, group work, or team projects)
   

4. suspension-of-disbelief (the use of videos, reading materials, or audio podcasts)

The outer circle is the Where, the online environment (described in the Differences Chart) that the instructor participates in, partnering with learners.

Reference

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a sense of presence in online teaching: How to “be there” for distance learners. Jossey-Bass. 

7 Steps to Creating Presence in Online Courses -- Step 4

 

Online teaching and learning should be an experience where presence is felt by both instructors and learners. How is presence created?
 

The fourth step is CONSIDER THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL. Designing for online learning has to do with our senses and perceptions (remember the Differences Chart) and this requires that we learn to adjust our senses and perceptions to these new ways of reaching out to our students (after all, perceptions drive our thinking.) Think carefully about this - what we’re doing is appealing to our students psychologically and emotionally, as well as cognitively, and creating an illusion of presence. We’re not “really” present with them (nor they with us) but want to make them think we are - that we’re all together in the same virtual space.

Reference

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass. 

7 Steps to Creating Presence in Online Courses – Step 3

 

The third step is LOOKING AT ONLINE LEARNING AS A HUMAN EXPERIENCE. Credit Marshall McLuhan with researching and discussing this as early as the 70s - see his Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Other researchers have built on this idea – John Short and colleagues who developed a concept of presence (in the 70s), Lani Gunawardena whose research emphasized engaging learners (in the 80s and 90s), Palloff and Pratt who more recently researched and wrote on creating community in cyberspace, Caspi and Blau who focused on online learners as partners, and Lehman and Conceição whose book in 2010 Creating a Sense of Presence: How to ‘Be There’ for Distance Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass helps integrate and expand on the research. 

Reference 

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass. 

 

7 Steps to Creating Presence in Online Courses - Step 2

 

Online teaching and learning should be an experience where presence is felt by both instructors and learners. How is presence created?

 

The second step is to UNDERSTAND THE NEW ENVIRONMENT. The chart above can help you understand how the Face-to-Face and the Virtual Online Worlds are different. With this chart you can begin to see how you need to change and adapt your teaching to reach across space in a very human way to your students. Next week - Step 3.

 

Reference

 

Lehman, R. M., & Conceição, S. C. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. Jossey-Bass. 

Impact of Technology in Our Lives

 

Today there are many benefits of the use of technology in our lives. There are also limitations. Our concern is how these limitations can impact our learning and our every day’s lives. When a new technology is created, we usually have a very specific use in mind. But as technology evolves and we take advantage of its potential, we also need to consider its limitations. Technology can become more than we had initially thought it would be. For example, a cell phone was originally developed to be used as a mobile phone. Today, a cell phone does almost anything -- we can use it as a camera, email device, calculator, or GPS system; we can use it to access the Internet and the latest news through alerts; and so on.  

One of the limitations of technology is that as individuals, we tend to behave differently when using it. For instance, people tend to reveal things about themselves that they would not reveal if they were in a normal real-life situation. This type of behavior has been evident in television interviews and sharing information on social networking sites such as Facebook or YouTube. We are puzzled about why people behave this way because the impact in our lives can be detrimental when using technology without being aware of its consequences. This lack of awareness is because the technology is elusive. 

• How can people become more aware of ways in which technology impacts their behavior? 
• How can people put this awareness into practice? 
• How can this practice benefit people's lives?

Creating Presence from the Traditional to the Virtual

There is a difference in the way we create a sense of presence in the traditional face-to-face classroom compared to the virtual classroom. In this episode, Rosemary Lehman and Simone Conceição examine these differences and the distinguishing factors: space, time, boundaries, teaching, level of interaction, level of course planning, and cognitive and affective teaching effort.

Based on the book, Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners.

• What are the challenges you face when creating presence in the virtual world? 
• How do you create a sense of presence in your online courses as compared to the traditional classroom?

 

Listen to Podcast

Conversations about Online Teaching and Learning Episode 10 Transcript

The Role of Presence in the Online Environment

As digital technologies evolve, it points to the need to create a sense of presence as we teach and learn online. When there is a sense of presence in online teaching and learning, it can greatly enhance the instructor-learner relationship. This episode focuses on the role of presence in the online environment.  

Based on the book, Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners.

• How do you define presence in the online environment?

• How do you know that you have created a sense of presence in your online course?

• How has your instructor-learner relationship changed as you incorporated a sense of presence in your online course?

 

Listen to Podcast

Conversations about Online Teaching and Learning Episode 9 Transcript