Making Sense of Presence: Are You Here or There?

 

The basic difference between face-to-face teaching and learning and distance teaching and learning is the separation of the instructor from the learners and the learners from each other. This separation can cause feelings of isolation, frustration, and anxiety. A way to overcome these feelings in the online environment is through an awareness and understanding of a sense of presence that is followed by creating presence and community through course design. Often in our classes our learners have said that they feel as though they are not separated but are in the same room. Are they “here or there”? Often they really aren’t sure and that is amazing!

If you keep in mind that making sense of presence in the online environment is based not on what is actually taking place but rather on the way the course is designed and the way you and your learners think, feel, and behave, you will begin to truly “be there” and “be together” with others.

 

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. 

End of Online Course Activities

 

Instructor presence may lessen during the final two or three weeks of the online course, as learners become more independent, confident, and focused on what is needed to complete the course. During this time, instructors should pay special attention to completing tasks, clarifying issues through announcements, and providing support through individual or group or team meetings. At this point, technology should be totally transparent.

 

End of Course activities may include: 1) end-of-course communication, in the form of announcements (for example, a Welcome to the last Unit Announcement and a Final Course Announcement when everything has been completed); 2) paper critiques in which course participants write a topic synthesis and share it with group members for critique; 3) team project self- and peer feedback for rating individuals in the team and the team itself; 4) whole group discussion that will offer time for reflection and new perspectives; 5) instructor feedback, as a facilitator, supporter, and evaluator; and 6) end-of-course debriefing to help learners decompress and process their online course experience.

 

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. 

Online Activities During Your Course

 

A variety of activities can be incorporated during your course to engage learners: instructor-led activities, logistical (non-content) and instructional (content) activities, and cooperative and collaborative activities. These activities will enhance a sense of presence through emotional, personal, and team/group connection. First, look at your course scope and sequence, then design and integrate activities that will help realize your course objectives/outcomes. These activities might include Twitter announcements, electronic office hours, mini-lectures with feedback opportunities, guest experts with interviews, debates, participant audios and videos (Podcasts, YouTube, etc.), trigger videos (playing a short video sequence that leads to discussion), blogs, case studies, digital storytelling, group discussions, group and team projects, and virtual projects. 

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. 

 

Online Activities Before Your Course Begins

Before your course begins is the perfect time to obtain information about your learners' backgrounds and interests and share information about yourself. Use an Individual Data Sheet or a Biographical Sharing Form. This provides an opportunity for you to connect and start creating a sense of presence with course participants. Another excellent way to orient students before your course begins is to involve them in a Course Scavenger Hunt. This activity can welcome them to the course, help them get to know each other, guide them through the specifics of the course, introduce them to netiquette, help them become familiar with the different locations on the course site, introduce them to team and group work, and begin course readings. Orientation activities not only start before the course begins, but often last through the first week.

 

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. 

Thoughts on Creating a Sense of Online Presence

 

 

 

As technology continues to evolve, we are no longer limited to physical interactions. We can connect with others worldwide as the boundaries between the real and the virtual worlds dissolve. Information and knowledge are now in the palm of our hands, and we can access them through the tips of our fingers. But - having and accessing information in a casual way does not necessarily mean that we are learning. Learning, as the process of making sense of information and constructing and applying knowledge in formal online settings, requires a different way of thinking, feeling, and behaving that gives the illusion of being together with the instructor and with others. It requires creating a sense of presence. 

 

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. 

Creating Presence Activities at the End of the Course

 

During the last three weeks of the online course, as learners become more independent, confident, and focused on what they need to complete the course, instructor presence will most likely lessen. To maintain the flow of the course and help learners complete their final tasks, special attention should be given to communication between the instructor and learners. Create an environment for rich feedback in group or teamwork, in assignment performance, and design an activity that will bring closure to the 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. 

Creating Presence Activities During the Online Course

 

The same approach used for designing experiences that create presence before the online course begins should also be used for the creation of activities during the course. During the course you will want to intentionally involve learners in interactive activities (you with your learners, learners and learners with you, and learners with learners in a group or team.) 

Our book provides many activity examples of both educational and logistical activities. If the format of the learning experience is self-paced, the interactive activities should focus on one-on-one with your learner. If the format is team or group-based the focus should be on cooperative or collaborative activities. Logistical activities, which are non-content based, are also very important during the 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. 

Creating Presence Activities Before the Course Begins

 

Use the Determinants of Presence in our Framework to create presence activities before and throughout the course. Let's begin with before the course begins: how about mailing or emailing a Welcome Letter and sharing biographies/pictures on the learning management system (LMS)? Another idea is to create ice breakers for individuals and for upcoming group and teamwork. You can also create a Scavenger Hunt to help learners with course orientation and guide them through the navigation and organization of the course. Your role, before the course begins, the technologies you select, and the support you provide will also determine "presence success." 

Framework for Designing Online Courses with a Sense of Presence

 

In our book, we propose an instructional design framework that uses the “Being There for the Online Learner” model as a foundation for understanding presence and the determinants of presence as the design components for creating a sense of presence in the online environment. The sense of presence should be intentionally incorporated into the design of the course during the preplanning phase using the determinants of presence. 

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. 

The "Being There for the Online Learner" Model

To understand how online learners experience presence and better design for those experiences, we have developed a "Being There for the Online Learner" model. This model illustrates learners' three-phase perceptual process (the inner world, the interface with the outer world, and the outer world), through which they experience presence. The model also incorporates the types of experience, the modes of presence, and how these elements interplay. 

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.