Dimensions of the Learner and the Role of Emotion

What are the learner dimensions you need to be aware of to create a sense of presence and what role does emotion play? According to Garrison et al. (2001), there are three learner dimensions: the interior world, the interface with the real world (perception/conception process), and the concrete world shared with others. 

Our interior world is the inner space in which we reflect on, consider, analyze, and synthesize information. We then make a transition through the perceptual/conceptual process (interface) with the outer world in which we relate to other people and share our inner feelings and thoughts. Noe (2005) calls this the enactive perceptual process. Throughout the process of using these three dimensions (interior world, the interface with the real world, and the concrete world), emotions affect thought and then behavior, impacting learners’ experience of presence. 

Though neglected in the past, the importance of emotion in learning is gaining significance. Emotions are key to the process because they help learners focus their perceptions on particular aspects of a thought and enable them to concentrate on specific situations, connect the affective to the cognitive, and arrive at thoughtful and appropriate decisions (Alcañiz et al., 2004). Emotions act as a kind of gatekeeper, both with and without the intervention of thought. Emotional intelligence involves, the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997. It is important to note that there are two sides to the coin of emotion. One example would be a learner who overwhelmingly shares messages that provoke emotions in other people and leads the discussion in a negative direction. Conversely, a learner who shares ideas related to content concepts and thoughtfully incorporates personal feelings, encourages others to participate in the discourse in a positive manner. This reflects the new area of research on emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). This relatively new area of research tells us that the more we are able to use our emotions in connection with our thought process, the better able we are to clarify our perceptions, and make decisions most appropriate to a given situation.

In this research, increased connectivity between thought and emotion is the key to their working together rather than separately (LeDoux, 1996). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is basing its Learning Companion project on the interplay of emotion, thought, and learning. This project is developing an affective companion prototype that will provide emotional support to participants in the learning process, assisting them by helping to alleviate frustration and self-doubt (Picard et al., 2004). 

References

Alcañiz, M., Bañoa, R., Botella, C., & Rey, B. (2003). The EMMA project: Emotions as a determinant of presence. Psychology Journal, 1(2), 141–150.

Garrison, D., Anderson, W., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 5(1): 7–23.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Dell.

LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. Simon and Schuster.

Noe, A. (2005). Action in perception. Cambridge. MIT Press.

Picard, R., Kort, B., & Reilly, T. (2004). Affective learning companion: Exploring the role of emotion in propelling the SMET learning process. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://affect.media.mit.edu/AC_research/lc/nsf1.html

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9(3), 185–211.

Presence is Rooted in the Interactive Perceptual Process

Presence is rooted in the interactive (i.e., enactive) perceptual process (Noe, 2005) and should be viewed from different perspectives: social, psychological, and emotional.

Social presence surfaced in the 1970s when Short et al. (1976) wrote about individuals being seen as “real” when communicating using media. In this case, the amount of presence was based on the type of media used. Today, it is believed that the type of media used has little influence on social presence in online environments. Rather, social presence has more to do with how well individuals participating in online learning are successful in acknowledging or disregarding the presence of the medium (Lombard & Ditton, 1997) and feel a sense of “being together” with others (Biocca et al., 2001) as previously mentioned. 

In the second perspective, according to Lombard and Ditton (1997), presence is a psychological state in which the technology becomes transparent to the user who no longer recognizes it in the learning experience, an illusion in which the technology seems to disappear and people and locations that are in reality separated, perceive and feel that they are present together in the same room.  

The third perspective, emotional presence, is the ability to genuinely show feelings through words, symbols, and interactions with others in the online environment. In this process, learners and instructors are emotionally present when they connect with others in an authentic way during the online learning experience. Throughout the perceptual process, emotions affect our behavior and thought and impact our experiences of presence. Emotions are key to perception; they guide us to focus on particular aspects of a situation, enable us to concentrate on that situation, connect the affective to the cognitive, and allow us to arrive at thoughtful and appropriate decisions for our actions (Alcañiz et al., 2004).

References

Alcañiz, M., Bañoa, R., Botella, C., & Rey, B. (2003). The EMMA project: Emotions as a determinant of presence. Psychology Journal, 1(2), 141–150.

Biocca, F., Burgoon, J., Harms, C., & Stoner, M. (2001). Criteria and scope conditions for a theory and measure of social presence. Paper presented at the Presence 2001: Fourth International Workshop.

Lombard, M., & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2). 

Noe, A. (2005). Action in perception. Cambridge. MIT Press.

Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. London: Wiley Press.

Why is Presence So Important?

 

We are basically social by nature and when that social aspect is absent, we crave it and look for ways to accommodate absence and create presence. This social nature is deeply embedded in our perceptual process when interacting with others, not only in the real world, but also in the online environment. It is through the perceptual process that we interact with information and others within the online environment and require others to relate to us and work with us - this happens at the behavioral level.

Individually, each of us needs to make sense of information for our use, for sharing, and for further interacting with others. This refines and expands our knowledge. Individually, we search for appropriate resources to challenge, support, and enhance our experiences. We then re-examine the entire process by refining what we have integrated, and then circle back to repeat the process - this happens at the cognitive and emotional levels. We continuously go through this process in the online environment from an individual point of view; in other words, perceptually (Lehman, 1996; 2006). Because this process occurs at the subconscious level (Noe, 2005), it is difficult to notice when it is happening.

When thought, emotion, and behavior work together in our real world experiences, we believe that we have created a successful perceptual experience and a sense of presence. Often, we do not realize what happens when we are, for example, assigned to a small group in a face-to-face class (the environment); interacting with group members (with emotion); and focusing, following, and completing the group assignment (with thought, based on group behavior). This perceptual experience parallels the online learning experience, with the exception that in the online learning experience the instructor and learners are not in the same physical space. It is, therefore, necessary to intentionally rethink and redesign the course, incorporating the dynamic interplay of thought, emotion, and behavior to influence the perceptual process and create a sense of presence within the online environment.

References

Lehman, R. M. (1996). The essential videoconferencing guide: Seven keys to success. Instructional Communications Systems.

Lehman, R. (2006). The role of emotion in creating instructor and learner presence in the distance education experience. Journal of Cognitive Affective Learning, spring/summer issue. Available at www.jcal.emory.edu.

Noe, A. (2005). Action in perception. Cambridge. MIT Press.

The Concept of Presence in the Literature

In Kehrwald’s (2008) study, social presence is defined as the ability to demonstrate being in the online environment. This ability to be social in a virtual space is impacted by immediacy, awareness, and a willingness to engage in communication and interaction (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997). Tu and McIsaac (2002) have found that online context can also positively influence social presence when it is stimulating, expressive, carries feelings and emotions, and is significant, and implicit.

Projecting oneself onto an online group and identifying with that group can effectively influence online learning by creating a comfortable environment. Learners who perceive high social presence during online exchanges also think that they learn more by benefiting from the ideas of others (Caspi & Blau 2008). Learners need to be introduced to this notion of online community building, knowledge construction as a group, and ways of being present during online discussions.

Gunawardena (1995) has added the importance of online learner context, noting that the offline context where participants learn and their relationships within that context have an effect on the online learning experience. Lehman (2006) expands on this research of online social presence, community, and learner context by suggesting the creation of an environment that considers the perceptual nature of the learner, a perceptual systems approach. This approach considers learners as perceivers, who bring their individual knowledge, skills, attitudes, preferences, and diverse backgrounds to the online learning experience. From this perspective, learners are active perceivers, rather than passive receivers during the online learning experience. 

 

References

Caspi, A., & Blau, I. (2008). Social presence in online discussion groups: Testing three conceptions and their relations to perceived learning. Social Psychological Education, 11(3), 323–346.

Gunawardena, C. N. (1995). Social presence theory and implications for interaction and collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1(2/3), 147–156.

Gunawardena, C., & Zittle, F. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer mediated conferencing environment. American Journal of Distance Education, 11(1), 8–26.

Kehrwald, B. A. (2008). Understanding social presence in text-based online learning environments. Distance Education, 29(1), 89–106.

Lehman, R. (2006). The role of emotion in creating instructor and learner presence in the distance education experience. Journal of Cognitive Affective Learning (JCAL), spring/summer issue. Available at www.jcal.emory.edu.

Tu, C., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of social presence and interaction in online classes. American Journal of Distance Education, 16(3), 131–150.

 

Creating a Sense of Presence

 

Creating a sense of online presence enhances instructor-learner and learner-learner relationships. Our definition of online presence is "being there" and "being together" before, during, and at the end of the online experience. Since presence is not a thing but a process, it has a "look" and "feel." Presence looks and feels as though the instructor has placed the learner at the center of the course development and created the course for the learner. It looks and feels as though the instructor is accessible to the learners, the learners are accessible to the instructor and other learners, and the technology is transparent to the learning process.

 

Online presence is created through developing awareness, understanding, involvement through experience, and intentional planning and design throughout the course. Presence helps to break down feelings of isolation, involves participants in the learning process, brings learners together in a virtual community, and is key to learner retention.  

Online presence is more than engagement and includes the dynamic interplay of thought, emotion, and behavior as instructor and learners consciously and unconsciously experience both the real world and the online environment.

Why is it important to understand presence when creating and designing online courses?

 

As the Internet evolves in an informal social direction (Internet-based social networking tools), it points to the importance of creating a sense of presence in the more formal setting of teaching and learning online. Understanding presence and how to create and design presence for online courses is “key.”

There is a difference between creating informal social presence for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and creating presence for online courses. In the more informal setting, we create presence spontaneously. In the more formal setting of online courses, we need to make a concerted effort to be aware of the intentions of others and their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We need to use a systematic approach and “intentionally design.” 

Research on co-presence and social interaction

Our interest in the concept of presence is particularly focused on the online environment. However. we are open to perspectives from different fields such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology, among others. In one of our presentations, a colleague mentioned the work of Erving Goffman. Goffman's work centers on social interactions and the meaning of co-presence in the face-to-face world.  His work explores the social organization of gathering and the presentation of self in everyday life. These concepts relate to our work on creating online presence. In the online environment, "being there" and "being together with others" is based on co-presence when individuals are interacting with each other.  We are only beginning to learn about Goffman's work and would like to explore more his concepts of co-presence and social interaction, and how they relate to the online environment. Our blog is open for anyone to chime in about this topic.

 

Goffman, E. (2021). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor.

Does teaching online benefit face-to-face teaching?

From our own experience and the experience of instructors who we have worked with, we have learned that the instructors often bring the online teaching skills back into the face-to-face classroom. Why does it happen? Because while designing online instruction, they had to think in detail about their own teaching strategies and techniques, philosophy, and relationship with the learners. They also realized how important it is to intentionally plan for interaction. In other words, instructors start thinking about face-to-face presence from a different perspective. 

Does presence mean being constantly online?

 

This is what people usually think. They feel that teaching online they need to be connected 24/7. This need not be the case. It all depends on how the instructor designs and manages the course. Many elements of the course can determine presence such as type and focus of the content, the course format (group-based, self-paced, or a mix), the interactive strategies, the instructor's role, the technology used, and the support (instructional and technical) provided for the learners. How you manage these course elements as part of your task as an instructor will affect how much time you spend online.

Role of Instructor’s Presence in an Online Course

 

What is the role of instructor's presence in an online course? 

Depending on how the course is designed, the role of the instructor may span from facilitator to catalyst, observer, mentor, or evaluator among others. These roles are dynamic and can be carried out as you see the need. For example, in the beginning of the course, you may take the role of a facilitator to assist students in processing their learning. While towards the end of the course, you may take the roles of observer and evaluator as participants become more independent and complete final course assignments.