The Measurement of Social Presence in an Online Learning Environment

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Tu, C. (2002). The Measurement of Social Presence in an Online Learning Environment. International Journal on E-Learning, 1(2), 34-45. Norfolk, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/10820.

Journal Information

International Journal on E-Learning
ISSN 1537-2456
Volume 1, Issue 2, 2002
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)  Norfolk, VA

More Information on IJEL Table of Contents

Author

Chih-Hsiung Tu, George Washington University, USA

Abstract

Social presence is a critical social factor to be examined in distance education. The existing instrument, developed for non-computer-mediated communication, is unable to measure social presence in an online learning environment. Several studies have investigated social presence but an instrument appropriate for computer-mediated communication must be developed before cogent studies can be conducted. An analysis of the studies on social presence is accomplished leading to the development and validation of an instrument to measure social presence in the computer-mediated communication environment. This instrument was theoretically grounded in the dimensions derived from an extensive review of the literature and thus reflects a consensus of the perceptions of online social presence. The results indicate that social presence contains three dimensions, social context, online communication, and interactivity and, privacy.

Keywords

• Communication
• Social Studies
• Distance Education
• Computers

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