Online Classrooms in the Digital Era - Online Presence Through Learners’ Perception
Main Article Content
Abstract
This research aims to evaluate learners’ experience of online presence (i.e., teaching, social, cognitive presence) on learning needs, outcomes and challenges in meeting those expectations at a Vietnam university, which offered an entire curriculum online during 2020 and 2021 in response to a strict social distancing mandate. This study provides the following contributions. First, it helps educational institutions understand online learners’ pressing needs using a well-studied framework and create a high-level, engaging online learning environment. Second, it complements other studies that examine the Community of Inquiry framework in the context of a university in Vietnam during COVID-19, whose findings can be generalizable to other institutions. Finally, it puts forward further challenges that educational institutions should consider balancing online learners’ needs and operational constraints to advance the effectiveness of online learning. The study shows that the students highly regarded teaching presence from the instructors and institution, which included online infrastructure, learning management system, and various online teaching modes. Lively online lectures, recorded sessions, and the use of social media made the learning experience satisfactory. However, cognitive and social presence was not found strongly present in students’ learning. Class sizes, workload, and lack of personal contacts were found to be the main reasons for instructors not promoting such aspects of the learning.
Keywords:
Distance education, Online learning, Teaching presence, Cognitive presence, Social presence, COVID-19.
References
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[2] L. Pham, Y. B. Limbu, T. K. Bui, H. T. Nguyen, H. T. Pham, Does E-learning Service Quality Influence E-learning Student Satisfaction and Loyalty? Evidence from Vietnam, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2019, pp. 7.
[3] S. O’Shea, C. Stone, J. Delahunty, I "Feel" Like I am at University Even though I am Online Exploring How Students Narrate Their Engagement with Higher Education Institutions in an Online Learning Environment, Distance Education, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2015, pp. 41-58.
[4] P. Kim Chung, T. Q. Cuong, Teacher Professional Development: Blended Learning Courses, VNU Journal of Science: Education Research, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2018, pp. 1-7, https://doi.org/ 10.25073/2588-1159/vnuer.4099, 07/05 2018.
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[6] T. Anderson, R. Liam, D. R. Garrison, W. Archer, Assessing Teaching Presence in a Computer Conferencing Context, 2001, pp. 91-130.
[7] G. Siemens, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, http://www. elearnspace. org/Articles/connectivism. htm/, 2014 (accessed on: October 5th, 2014).
[8] A. G. Picciano, Theories and Frameworks for Online Education: Seeking an Integrated Model, Online Learning, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2017, pp. 166-190.
[9] A. G. Picciano, Theories and Frameworks for Online Education: Seeking an Integrated Model, in A Guide to Administering Distance Learning: Brill, 2021, pp. 79-103.
[10] L. Harasim, Learning Theory and Online Technologies, Routledge, 2017.
[11] T. Anderson, The Theory and Practice of Online Learning, Athabasca University Press, 2008.
[12] J. D. Bransford, A. L. Brown, R. R. Cocking, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, National Academy Press, 1999.
[13] D. R. Garrison, Z. Akyol, Toward the Development of a Metacognition Construct for Communities of Inquiry, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 24, 2015, pp. 66-71.
[14] D. R. Garrison, T. Anderson, W. Archer, A Theory of Critical Inquiry in Online Distance Education, Handbook of Distance Education, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2003, pp. 113-127.
[15] E. Hatmanto, B. Pratolo, The Articulation of the Community of Inquiry Framework in the Online Discussion, International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, No. 8, 2020, pp. 10928-10940.
[16] J. Richardson, K. Swan, P. Lowenthal, P. Ice, Social Presence in Online Learning: Past, Present, and Future, in Global Learn, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 2016, pp. 477-483.
[17] Ü. Çakıroğlu, S. Kılıç, Understanding Community in Synchronous Online Learning: Do Perceptions Match Behaviours?, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2020, pp. 105-121.
[18] T. Anderson, L. Rourke, R. Garrison, W. Archer, Assessing Teaching Pressence in a Computer Conferencing Context, Online Learning (Newburyport, Mass.), 2019.
[19] T. W. Anderson, C. Hsiao, Estimation of Dynamic Models with Error Components, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 76, No. 375, 1981, pp. 598-606.
[20] E. Sung, R. E. Mayer, Five Facets of Social Presence in Online Distance Education, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 28, No. 5, 2012, pp. 1738-1747.
[21] T. Russo, S. Benson, Learning with Invisible Others: Perceptions of Online Presence and Their Relationship to Cognitive and Affective Learning, Educational Technology and Society, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005, pp. 54-62.
[22] C. H. Tu, M. McIsaac, The Relationship of Social Presence and Interaction in Online Classes, The American Journal of Distance Education, Vol. 16, No. 3, 2002, pp. 131-150.
[23] C. J. Yen, C. H. Tu, A Multiple-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Scores for Online Social Presence: Do they Measure the Same Thing Across Cultural Groups?, Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2011, pp. 219-242.
[24] L. Rourke, T. Anderson, D. R. Garrison, W. Archer, Assessing Social Presence in Asynchronous Text-Based Computer Conferencing, The Journal of Distance Education/Revue de L'ducation Distance, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1999, pp. 50-71.
[25] D. R. Garrison, Online Community of Inquiry Review: Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presence Issues, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2007, pp. 61-72.
[26] S. H. Yang, Conceptualizing Effective Feedback Practice through an Online Community of Inquiry, Computers and Education, Vol. 94, 2016, pp. 162-177.
[27] K. Swan, D. Garrison, J. C. Richardson, A Constructivist Approach to Online Learning: The Community of Inquiry Framework, In Information Technology and Constructivism in Higher Education: Progressive Learning Frameworks: IGI Global, 2009, pp. 43-57.
[28] L. Rourke, H. Kanuka, Learning in Communities of Inquiry: A Review of the Literature (Winner 2009 Best Research Article Award), International Journal of E-Learning and Distance Education/Revue Internationale du E-learning et la Formation à Distance, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2009, pp. 19-48.
[29] M. P. V. Niekerk, Students' Perceptions on IWB through the Lens of the Community of Inquiry Framework, South African Journal of Education, Vol. 35, No. 4, 2015, pp. 1-10.
[30] L. P. Hilliard, M. K. Stewart, Time well Spent: Creating a Community of Inquiry in Blended First-year Writing Courses, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 41, 2019, pp. 11-24.
[31] M. S. Gunbatar, T. Guyer, Effects of Inquiry Types on States Related to Community of Inquiry in Online Learning Environments: An Explanatory Case Study, Contemporary Educational Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2017, pp. 158-175.
[32] N. R. Theriault, A Phenomenological Study of Meaningful Online Learning for College Students, Northcentral University, 2020.
[33] M. H. Cho, S. Tobias, Should Instructors Require Discussion in Online Courses? Effects of Online Discussion on Community of Inquiry, Learner Time, Satisfaction, and Achievement, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2016, pp. 123-140.
[34] A. Cole et al., Student Predisposition to Instructor Feedback and Perceptions of Teaching Presence Predict Motivation Toward Online Courses, Online Learning Journal, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2017.
[35] R. Krueger, M. Casey, Analyzing Focus Group Results 6, Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 2015, pp. 137-161.
[36] R. L. Shearer, T. Aldemir, J. Hitchcock, J. Resig, J. Driver, M. Kohler, What Students Want: A Vision of a Future Online Learning Experience Grounded in Distance Education Theory, American Journal of Distance Education, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2020, pp. 36-52.
[37] M. C. Tremblay, A. R. Hevner, D. J. Berndt, Focus Groups for Artifact Refinement and Evaluation in Design Research, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2010, pp. 27.
[38] J. W. Creswell, J. D. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Sage Publications, 2017.
[39] P. Shea, T. Bidjerano, Community of Inquiry as a Theoretical Framework to Foster Epistemic Engagement and Cognitive Presence in Online Education, Computers and Education, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2009, pp. 543-553.
[40] V. Kovanović, D. Gašević, S. Joksimović, M. Hatala, and O. Adesope, Analytics of Communities of Inquiry: Effects of Learning Technology use on Cognitive Presence in Asynchronous Online Discussions, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 27, 2015, pp. 74-89.
[41] D. R. Garrison, T. Anderson, W. Archer, Critical Inquiry in a Text-based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 2, No. 2-3, 1999, pp. 87-105.
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