Master thesis about the socialization on the introductory online master course

1. Enhancing Social PresenceandSocialisationinDistanceEducationUsingVirtualEnvironments www.univ-ab.pt Lina Morgado lmorgado@univ-ab.pt Angelina Macedo angelina.m.macedo@gmail.com

2. Enhancing Social PresenceandSocialisationinDistanceEducationUsingVirtualEnvironments Summary: Introduction Reviewofliterature III. Methodology Data analysisanddiscussion V. Conclusionsandimplications for researchandpractice Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

4. It’smainlycentredonthediscussionandanalysisofinteraction;

5. Interactionisseen as beingableof

6. reducingdistance

7. creatingimmediacy

8. Interactioninseparablepartoftheprocessofteachingandlearningat a distance.Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

10. ICTsandemergent virtual worldspotentiatenewpedagogicalapproachesindistanceeducation;

11. Thus, enhancingmultipleinteractionsandcreatingricher online learningcontexts: synchronousandasynchronouscommunicationand media (Web 2.0 tools).Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

12. II. Reviewofliterature: Social Presence, Sociabilityand Social Connections Howdidearly CMC researchviewcomputercommunication? Highdropout rates Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

13. II. Reviewofliterature: Social Presence, Sociabilityand Social Connections Literatureandrecentstudies show that CMC (due to theadvancesinICTs) canpromotethecreationof virtual learningcommunitiesandtrue virtual classes withstrongrelationshipsandtask performance comparable to face to face communication. Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

14. II. Reviewofliterature: Social Presence, Sociabilityand Social Connections

16. Online discussionforumshaveshownthatthetechnological media couldcreate a feelingofpresenceand a learningcommunity;

17. Virtual worldslikeSecondLife are immersiveandpeopleinteractnotonlywithotherpeoplebutalsowiththeenvironment.Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

19. Inourstudywefocusedonthefirst 2 stages: Access & MotivationandSocialisation;

20. It’simportantthatstudentsfeel familiar withthetechnologyanddevelopinterestinginteractiveactivities. Otherwise, thetechnologyper se onlywillbe a failure. So, it’simportant to jointechnologyandpedagogyifwewant to createinterestingdistancecourses.Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

22. Builtin 1999 by Martin Dougiamas for educationalpurposes;

23. Free, very popular, OpenSource LMS;

24. Supports a socio-constructivistlearningapproach;

25. Enhancesinteraction, mainlyinanasynchronousway;

26. Severalfeaturesthatcanenhance social presenceandthecreationof a learningcommunityAngelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

28. Opened to publicin 2003 byLindenLab;

29. Social networkingbuilt for profit;

31. Enhancesinteraction, mainlyin a synchronousway;

32. Immersion, CMC mediatedthroughavatarsenhance social presenceandthecreationof a learningcommunity.Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

35. Case study

36. Participants: Classthatwasstartingtheintroductory module oftheMastersprogram “PedagogyofeLearning” at Universidade Aberta of Portugal;

37. Data collection: Written chat logs(from 3 sessionsheldinSL); online discussionforum (virtual café inMoodle) andsemi-structuredinterviews;

38. Data analysis (contentanalysis):

39. Organisationandselectionofthe data;

40. Classificationofthemessagesaccording to thecategoriesandindicatorspreviouslydefined;

41. Makinginferencesandinterpretingthe data.

42. Aim: Understandhow social presenceand online socialisationcouldbeenhancedinMoodleandSecondLife for collaborationandlearningoutcomes.Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

43. III. Methodology Thecontextofthestudy Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

44. III. Methodology Thecontextofthestudy The learning activities have their foundation on Salmon’s five-stage model of online learning Salmon (2002) All the resources needed to develop the activities were made available in Moodle. Figure 1: Sessions and activities in Second Life: A brief description of the activity, its objectives and what was accomplished. Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

45. III. Methodology Thecontextofthestudy: ActivitiesimplementedinMoodle Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

46. III. Methodology Data collection involved observation of Second Life sessions, participation in in-world activities, collating chat logs, online discussion forums in Moodle and interviewing participants. The data was analysed to identify instances of socialisation and social presence. In order to analyze the categories and their indicators a framework was built as a result of the works of Rourke et al. (2001), Swan (2002), McKerlich and Anderson (2007) and Pita (2009). Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

47. III. Methodology Table 1 Framework to assess Social Presence and Online Socialisation both in Moodle and in Second Life Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

48. III. Methodology Framework to assess Social Presence and Online Socialisation both in Moodle and in Second Life Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

49. III. Methodology Framework to assess Social Presence and Online Socialisation both in Moodle and in Second Life Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

50. III. Methodology Framework to assess Social Presence and Online Socialisation both in Moodle and in Second Life Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

51. III. Methodology Framework to assess Social Presence and Online Socialisation both in Moodle and in Second Life Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

52. III. Methodology Interviews 1) Collect information about the most meaningful activities for students; 2) Teir perception of Social Presence, Online Socialisationand of the Virtual Class as a learning community. They were held in Second Life. Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

53. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

54. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

55. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

56. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

57. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

58. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

59. IV. Data analysisanddiscussion Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

60. V. Conclusionsandimplications for researchandpractice Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

61. V. Conclusionsandimplications for researchandpractice Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

62. V. Conclusionsandimplications for researchandpractice Angelina Macedo & Lina Morgado, ED-MEDIA, 2011, 29 june

63. www.univ-ab.pt Thanks for yourattention! Anyquestions? Contact: angelina.m.macedo@gmail.com lmorgado@univ-ab.pt