1. Social Presence What is it? And Why Does it Matter? Patrick R. Lowenthal | patrick.lowenthal@ucdenver.edu

3. What is it?

4. Does Presence = present ? ? ? ?

8. Original Definition Social presence is the degree of salience (i.e., quality or state of being there ) between two communicators using a communication medium.

10. For Example

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfuS3m-Jhcc

14. Why does this matter ?

15. Our lives have Changed

16. We are social beings!

17. Learning is social !

19. If learning is social and CMC antisocial, where does leave us?

21. Phases of Social Presence Research

23. Why does this matter to me ?

24. Limitations of Past Research

32. Category & Indicators Definition of Indicators Examples Affective Responses Paralanguage Features of text outside formal syntax used to convey emotion (i.e., emoticons, exaggerated punctuation or spelling) Someday……; How awful for you  ; Mathcad is definitely NOT stand along software; Absolutely!!!!! Emotion Use of descriptive words that indicate feelings (i.e., love, sad, hate, silly) When I make a spelling mistake, I look and feel stupid; I get chills when I think of … Value Expressing personal values, beliefs, and attitudes I think it is a necessary evil; I feel our children have the same rights Humor Use of humour—teasing cajoling, irony, sarcasm, understatement God forbid leaving your house to go to the library Self-Disclosure Sharing personal information, expressing vulnerability I sound like an old lady; I am a closet writer; We had a similar problem Interactive Responses Acknowledgement Referring directly to the contents of others’ messages; quoting from others’ messages agreement Those ‘old machines’ sure were something; we won by a landslide – ‘landslide’ (next response) Disagreement Expressing agreement or disagreement with other’s messages I’m with you on that; I agree; I think what you are saying is right Approval Expressing approval, offering praise, encouragement You make a good point; Right on; Good luck as you continue to learn Invitation Asking questions or otherwise inviting response Any suggestions?; Would you describe that for me, I am unfamiliar with the term Personal Advice Offering specific advice to classmates Also the CEC website might have some references Cohesive Responses Greetings & Salutations Greetings, closures Hi Mary; That’s it for now, Tom Vocatives Addressing classmates by name You know, Tamara, …; I totally agree with you Katherine Group Reference Referring to the group as ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ We need to be educated; Our use of the Internet may not be free Social Sharing Sharing information unrelated to the course Happy Birthday!! to both of you!!! Self-reflection Reflection on the course itself, a kind of self-awareness of the group I would never have imagined that we could have been having a discussion like this when we first started this course

33. Strategies to Improve Social Presence

35. Can you think of any strategies?

37. Questions?