The Evolution and Influence of Social Presence The

1Preprint.ToappearinOnlineeducationandadultlearning:Newfrontiersforteachingpractices.Lowenthal,P.R.(inPress).TheEvolutionandInfluenceofSocialPresenceTheoryonOnlineLearning.ToappearinT.T.Kidd(Ed.),Onlineeducationandadultlearning:Newfrontiersforteachingpractices.Hershey,PA:IGIGlobal.TheEvolutionandInfluenceofSocialPresenceTheoryonOnlineLearningPatrickR.LowenthalCUOnlineUniversityofColoradoDenver125014thStreetRoom720G,CampusBox198P.O.Box173364Denver,CO80217-3364USA(303)315-36872AbstractThetheoryofsocialpresenceisperhapsthemostpopularconstructusedtodescribeandunderstandhowpeoplesociallyinteractinonlinelearningenvironments.However,despiteitsintuitiveappeal,researchersandpractitionersalikeoftendefineandconceptualizethispopularconstructdifferently.Infact,itisoftenhardtodistinguishbetweenwhethersomeoneistalkingaboutsocialinteraction,immediacy,intimacy,emotion,and/orconnectednesswhentheytalkaboutsocialpresence.Therefore,thefocusofthischapterisonoutliningtheevolutionoftheconstructofsocialpresenceinanefforttounderstandbetteritsrelationshiptoonlinelearning.Keywords:SocialPresence,SocialInteraction,Presence,Sociability,Collaboration,Computer-mediatedCommunication3TheEvolutionandInfluenceofSocialPresenceTheoryonOnlineLearningIntroductionPeoplearesocialcreatures(Brown&Duguid,2002;Read&Miller,1995).Theylearnandworkingroups(Read&Miller,1995).TheInternetevolvedoutofanefforttoconnectcomputersandinformationandthereforepeople.Sinceitsearlydays,theInternethasgrownexponentially(Madden,2006).However,unliketheearlydayswhenonlyscientistsusedit,peopleusetheInternettodayinavarietyofdifferentways,includingcommunicatingwithfriends,family,andco-workers.Inadditiontoconnectingwithcurrentfriendsandfamily,peoplealsousetheInternettoformnewrelationships(Madden&Lenhart,2006).Asaresult,someresearchershavebeguntodescribetheInternetasasocialmedium(Baym,Zhang,&Lin,2004;Walther&Parks,2002).However,justastheInternetcanbringpeopletogetherandbedescribedas“social,”itcanseparatepeopleandbedescribedasisolatingandimpersonal(Kraut,etal.,1998;Morahan-Martin&Schumacher,2003;Nie,2001).SomeresearchershavereportedexamplesofInternetaddictionanddependence(Hiltz&Turoff,1993),andothers(Nie&Erbring,2002)havefoundthatthemoretimethatpeoplespendontheInternet,thelesstimetheyspendwithpeopleinface-to-facesocialsituations.Further,vanDijk(2006)determinedthattheInternetinvitescertaintypesofpeopletowithdrawintothecomputer.WhethertheInternetisasocialmedium,therefore,remainsaheateddebateinmanyways(Krautetal.,1998;Nie,Hillygus,&Erbring,2002).AsstateslikeMichiganbegintorequirehighschoolstudentstotakeonlinecoursestograduate(Watson,2006),andonlineenrollmentsatthecollegelevelcontinuetogrow(Allen&Seaman,2006),thesociability—orisolation—oftheInternetremainsanationwideconcern.Thetheoryofsocialpresenceisperhapsthemostpopularconstructusedtodescribeandunderstandhowpeoplesociallyinteractinonlinelearningenvironments.However,despiteits4intuitiveappeal,researchersandpractitionersalikeoftendefineandconceptualizethispopularconstructdifferently.Infact,itisoftenhardtodistinguishbetweenwhethersomeoneistalkingaboutsocialinteraction,immediacy,intimacy,emotion,and/orconnectednesswhentheytalkaboutsocialpresence.Therefore,thefocusofthischapterisonoutliningtheevolutionoftheconstructofsocialpresenceinanefforttounderstandbetteritsrelationshiptoonlinelearning.BackgroundInthelate1980sandearly1990s,researchersbegantostudytheeffectsofcomputer-mediatedcommunication(CMC).SomeconcludedthatCMCwasinherentlyantisocialandimpersonal(Walther,1996;Walther,Anderson,&Park,1994).WhileHiltz&Turoff(1993)acknowledgedthatinterpersonalrelationshipsmightbefosteredthroughCMC,earlyresearchsuggested—andconvincedothers—thatCMCwasbetterattask-orientedcommunication(Walther&Parks,2002).TheseearlyCMCresearchersturnedtosocialpresencetheorytomakesenseoftheirfindings.SocialPresenceTheoryShort,Williams,andChristie(1976)originallydevelopedthetheoryofsocialpresencetoexplaintheeffecttelecommunicationsmediacanhaveoncommunication.Theydefinedsocialpresenceasthedegreeofsalience(i.e.,qualityorstateofbeingthere)betweentwocommunicatorsusingacommunicationmedium.Theypositedthatcommunicationmediadifferintheirdegreeofsocialpresenceandthatthesedifferencesplayanimportantroleinhowpeopleinteract(p.65).Theyconceptualizedsocialpresenceprimarilyasaqualityofacommunicationmediumthatcandeterminethewaypeopleinteractandcommunicate.Fromtheirperspective,peopleperceivesomemediaashavingahigherdegreeofsocialpresence(e.g.,video)andothermediaashavingalowerdegreeofsocialpresence(e.g.,audio).Moreimportantly,theybelievedthatamediumwithahighdegreeof5socialpresenceisseenasbeingsociable,warm,andpersonal,whereasamediumwithalowdegreeofsocialpresenceisseenaslesspersonal.CMCresearcherslaterusedthistotheorytoexplainthatCMCwasinherentlyimpersonalbecausenonverbalandrelationalcues—commoninface-to-facecommunication—arefilteredoutofCMC(Walther&Parks,2002).TheImportanceofSettingsEarlyresearchers,though,studiedCMCprimarilyinorganizationalorbusinesssettings;thatis,earlyon,theyconductedveryli