Development and Initial Validation of a Social Capital Scale for Online Learning

• In Event: 52.073 - Online Teaching and Learning SIG Paper Session 6

Abstract

Online networks of social interaction differ based on context and goals of individuals, suggesting that there may be nuanced ways of conceptualizing and studying social presence. We propose using social capital theory as a means to study the dimensions of social presence, rather than envisioning social presence as a unitary construct. We report on our validation of a social capital scale for online learning and speculate on the ways in which this scale can inform social presence.

Authors

• Daniel Zingaro, University of Toronto

• Murat Oztok, University of Pennsylvania

• Jim Hewitt, OISE/University of Toronto

• Clare M. Brett, University of Toronto