Examining Social Presence in Middle School Synchronous Online Learning Environments: A Qualitative Case Study

• In Event: The Community of Inquiry Framework for Online Learning

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores how middle school students and teachers experience social presence through computer-mediated communication (CMC) in fully online (synchronous) learning environments. Data was gathered from interviews, observations, questionnaires, and documents and analyzed thematically to allow for rich description and a more complete understanding of the experience. This study has implications for research as it will advance social presence theory by examining it in a context that has yet to be fully explored. This research also has implications for practice by uncovering which teacher behaviors and online learning activities make the largest positive contributions to perceived social presence, thus informing online instructional design for the middle grades.

Keywords: social presence, online learning, middle school, computer-mediated communication (CMC)

Author

• Jennifer Trail, Kennesaw State Unniversity