When is an online course opaque?
My heart sinks when someone says to me, “He’s a good face-to-face teacher, I’m sure he’ll make a great online teacher!” Without help, I’m afraid he’ll be the teacher I … Continue reading
How can presence play out in course design?
The joy of my job is that I get to apply my presence research, both to my teaching and to my faculty development work: taking the abstract and making it … Continue reading
What is the role of persistence in the sense of presence?
I keep coming back to the idea of the sense of presence when I think about creating virtual environments for learning and collaboration. I suppose I can’t help myself – … Continue reading
Do presence, power and collaboration play together nicely?
The focus of my work has been on the development of the sense of presence in virtual worlds used for (formal) collaborative learning in higher education.One dimension of my presence … Continue reading
I am here – are you there?
In the online collaborative environment, visibility is serious issue because learners aren’t co-located or even co-temporaneous, so other affordances must provide information about availability for social interaction. To increase sociability, … Continue reading
What relevance does the sense of place have to online learning?
We often use the language of place when we interact online. If we post a text message and don’t get a quick answer, we might post, “Are you there?” … Continue reading
What do discussion forums contribute to learning (the sunshine side)?
As part of an online faculty orientation, I’ve been participating in a discussion-based online course, musing, of course at the meta-level question of learning and discussion forums. Here’s what I … Continue reading
