s11145

11145

Student Presentation

Teaching Students Online Social Presence: A Needs Assessment
Christopher P. Daniels, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, cpdaniel@hawaii.edu

Abstract: The concept of social presence in online learning was explored to determine the need for teaching online students to engage in social presence. Participants were asked to fill out a short, nine-question survey concerning their encounters with and perceptions of social presence in online and face-to-face learning environments. Respondents reported that low social presence in online learning was a major disadvantage, and that there was indeed a need for such a learning module. Five typical social skill sets that can be transferred to the online environment were pulled from the data. These skill sets were discussed and possible performance objectives were created. Performance objectives should be tested in accordance with the critical incident technique in order to determine their applicability, the importance of the identified skills, and if any other skills should be included.

All Audiences Social Networking, web2.0, Collaboration