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In the Rettie article, she attempts to address confusing terms in regards to online presence and interaction. She creates the large category of awareness and then breaks that down into social presence and connectedness. She separates these using instant messaging as an example: in looking at a buddy list, a person may feel connected but without engagement, may not feel experience any presence. In her discussion, the author believes that this separation will help in the creation of new learning systems. My question is, when is the difference between the two important? Are there any learning situations where awareness alone is enough to enhance an experience?
In the Swan article, three different factors were found to be associated with successful online courses: a clear course that skews towards simple rather than complex, an instructor who is plugged into the course with a notable and helpful presence, and peers who usefully contribute to the online discussions. In the second study, the researchers found that verbal immediacy was able to be achieved in online courses and contributed to student learning. Taking into account these preliminary findings, as well as the attributes of social presence in Rettie, is it possible for instructors to encourage social presence by modeling behaviors that lead to verbal immediacy, or is this something that will happen organically as students adjust to working in a totally online environment?
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