Affiliation:
1. Rutgers University, USA
Abstract
By definition, presence makes individuals feel connected and part of a community. Yet, creating presence among the students and their instructor does not happen automatically and can be especially challenging to develop in online courses. In these learning environments, interactions are frequently text-based and asynchronous. The visual and auditory cues generally associated with face-to-face interactions are absent. However, easy-to-use, inexpensive technologies to create audio and video content are emerging, and they can foster presence in educational settings. This chapter investigates the use of rich media to promote social, cognitive, and teaching presence. Specifically, instructor-created videos were used to enhance the sense of presence in a fully online course. Responses to surveys, reflections, and unstructured follow-up interviews suggest that students prefer the richer mode of communication, indicating that they felt a greater connection to the instructor as well as their classmates.