The research literature on Web-based learning supports the assumption that interaction is important for a successful course, yet questions exist regarding the nature and extent of the interaction and its effects on student performance. Much of the research is based on student perceptions of the quality and quantity of their interactions and how much they have learned in an online course. The purpose of this study is to examine performance in an online course in relationship to student interaction and sense of presence in the course. Data on multiple independent (measures of interaction and presence) and dependent (measures of performance) variables were collected and subjected to analysis. An attempt was made to go beyond typical institutional performance measures such as grades and withdrawal rates and to examine measures specifically related to course objectives.

Research has demonstrated that social presence not only affects outcomes but also student, and possibly instructor, satisfaction with a course [1]. Teacher immediacy behaviors and the presence of others are especially important issues for those involved in delivering online education. This study explored the role of social presence in online learning environments and its relationship to students ’ perceptions of learning and satisfaction with the instructor. The participants for this study were students who completed Empire State College’s (ESC) online learning courses in the spring of 2000 and completed the end of semester course survey (n=97). A correlational design was utilized. This study found that students with high overall perceptions of social presence also scored high in terms of perceived learning and perceived satisfaction with the instructor. Students ’ perceptions of social presence overall, moreover, contributed significantly to the predictor equation for students ’ perceived learning overall. Gender accounted for some of the variability of students ’ overall perception of social presence, while age and number of college credits earned did not account for any of the variability.

There is much positive research on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments in asynchronous distributed learning groups (DLGs). There is also research that shows that contemporary CSCL environments do not completely fulfil expectations on supporting interactive group learning, shared understanding, social construction of knowledge, and acquisition of competencies. There appear to be two major pitfalls impeding achievement of the desired social interaction in CSCL environments: taking social interaction in groups for granted and the lack of attention paid to the social psychological dimension of social interaction outside of the task context. Current solutions offered to avoid the pitfalls placed responsibility on instructors and teachers to encourage collaborative learning and social interaction. To both free educators from this burden and be more cost effective, we propose an intelligent CSCL environment. The environment is based upon a theoretical framework that suggests embedding certain properties in the environment to act as social contextual facilitators- social affordances- to initiate and sustain learner’s social interactions. Finally, a group awareness widget (GAW)- a software tool providing the learner group awareness about the others in the task and in the non-task context- is introduced as an embodiment of this theoretical framework.

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“Social presence, ” the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected one to another, has been shown to be an important factor in student satisfaction and success in online courses. This mixed methods study built on previous research to explore in greater depth the nature of social presence and how it develops in online course discussions. The study combined quantitative analyses of survey results from students enrolled in four online graduate courses, and qualitative comparisons of students with the highest and lowest perceptions of social presence. Quantitative results revealed significant correlations between perceived social presence and satisfaction with online discussions, and teased apart the respective influences of the perceived presence of instructors and peers. The findings indicate that the perceived presence of instructors may be a more influential factor in determining student satisfaction than the perceived presence of peers. Correlations with other course and learner characteristics suggest that course design may also significantly affect the development of social presence. Qualitative findings support the quantitative results. In addition, they provide evidence that students perceiving the highest social presence also projected themselves more into online discussions, and reveal meaningful differences in perceptions of the usefulness and purpose of online discussion between students perceiving high and low social presence.

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This study investigated the relationship between student perceptions of others in an online class and both affective and cognitive learning outcomes. Data were gathered from student survey responses and instructor evaluation of performance. Results from this study indicated significant correlations between student perceptions of the presence of other students in the class and scores on an attitudes scale and their satisfaction with their own learning. This finding demonstrates the salience of other students in the learning environment to affective learning outcomes. Perceptions of the instructor’s presence were significantly correlated with both affective learning and with student learning satisfaction. This outcome in an online class is consistent with findings on teacher immediacy literature in traditional classes and highlight the role of the teacher in establishing a learning environment. Results relative to cognitive learning showed that student reports of their perception of their own presence in the class were significantly correlated with performance in the class and with the grade they would assign themselves.

This paper examines the learning behavior of online students in an asynchronous learning environment. We employ the theoretical lens of an online community of inquiry, to understand how students build an understanding of course concepts as part of an online community of learning. Findings are presented from a study of an online, graduate University course. Student behavior was analyzed to investigate the detailed learning strategies employed by various students. An e-learning framework was devised, that identifies various types of behavior, each of which is associated with the distinct needs of an online learning process. We conclude with the reflection that we may need many different types of course interactions for different types of learning role.

As I watched my 12-year-old nephew play Halo 2 online while strategizing with his friends over his microphone-enabled headset, I realized that his play environment might well be the next distance learning platform. In cooperative online video games like Halo 2, players win by working together to understand and overcome the obstacles set forth in the storyline. Essentially, cooperative learning is occurring in these games. The virtual worlds in which today's video games take place can be reshaped as real-time synchronous virtual classrooms; the advance of technology and increasing accessibility of that technology mean that virtual reality is a viable distance education option. As Net Generation students, already the leading population in online gaming, bring their well-documented learning styles and demands for flexibility and adaptability into higher education venues, the three-dimensional gaming environment remade as a virtual classroom could become the natural next step in online learning (Oblinger 2006). The educational analogue to the three-dimensional gaming world is the virtual learning environment (VLE). The VLE is an online space where learners represent themselves through images called avatars, graphical personifications that represent the learner’s identity, presence, location, and interaction within the VLE. Within this environment, students, represented by their individual avatars, can interact in real time with each other and with computer-based agents, digital artifacts, and virtual contexts. These three-dimensional worlds

Abstract- Women are under-represented in technologyintensive fields. A possible cause might be gender differences. Men and women have differing approaches to communication which persist in the virtual world of online education. A second possible cause is gender discrimination. In male-dominated fields such as engineering, this difference can result in men discounting the contributions of their female classmates, thus creating a chilling effect. Communication in an asynchronous learning network (ALN) is different from face-to-face communication. Incorporating asynchronous communication elements in a technology-intensive class presents the potential to create an environment that could be more amenable to the woman student. Creating an environment that engenders social presence could make the class more amenable to the learning needs of the woman student. This research reports on a study with doctoral level students in both a technology intensive class and a more people-oriented class. The results of the study indicate that although both men and women registered the same degree of social presence regardless of the type of class, the technology-intensive classes displayed significantly less social presence unless assignments were structured to specifically promote that type of interactivity. Index Terms – asynchronous learning networks, communication, gender, social presence