The Online Student

1
The Online Students Social Experience A Tour
of the Virtual Campus

• Tim Green, Ph.D.
• California State University, Fullerton
• Abbie Brown, Ph.D.
• East Carolina University

2
Purpose of Presentation

• The purpose of this presentation is to provide a
  conceptual framework for student life in an
  online environment.
• We are interested in understanding the students
  overall experience in online learning and how
  this can be enhanced.

3
Questions We Explored

• Do the various online social activities students
  participate in have analogs in traditional
  on-campus and off-campus student life?
• What innovative virtual environments exist for
  student socializing?
• How can we design online environments to enhance
  a students social experience?

4
Theoretical Framework

• Researchers such as Dennen (2007) examine
  instructor roles and guise in online learning.
• The instructors approach to presence,
  positioning and persona seems to have an effect
  on student persona and positioning this may
  extend to the institutions approach to presence,
  positioning and persona as a factor in the
  students overall learning experience.
• Demasio (1994, 2006), asserts that emotion cannot
  be disregarded when considering cognition.
• There is an emotional component to learning that
  we cannot overlook this suggests that the
  overall social experience of school affects
  learning, and that it is important to consider
  the students feeling of social presence in an
  online setting.

5
An Institutions Website

• The institutions main gate and front desk
• Use of institutional colors, logo, and tag line
  (allows for institutional branding)
• Provides current and prospective students with a
  starting point to find information and get a feel
  for the institution

6
Portals

• A students entrance into the virtual campus
• Use of institutional colors, logo, and tag line
• Provides students with a way to easily navigate
  around the virtual campus (registrar, catalog,
  coursesetc.)
• Specialized and targeted information based on the
  particular student who has logged in (e.g. course
  schedule, class announcements, reminders to
  register or pay fees)
• Social information local news sports weather
  university messagesetc.

7
Online Classrooms

• Separate from the public website and portal, the
  classroom spaces the online student engages in
  are typically LMS/CMS constructs.

8
Student Use of Media

• Social Broadcasting
• Podcasts Vodcasts
• Blogs Vlogs
• Social Spaces
• Myspace.com, Facebook.com, and Second Life
• Information Exchange
• Listservs, Wikis, Craigs List

Sharing photos, videos, and personal information
in Facebook
Synchronous, 3-D interaction in Second Life
9
SoWhat about Learning?

• Enhancing a students social experience can help
  the student feel a greater sense of being part of
  the university community.
• Leading to the student feeling more connected to
  the university, to his or her instructors, and to
  fellow students.
• Helping the student to remain engaged and active
  in courses.

10
Designing Online Experiences

• Keep in mind that images and logos add a level of
  social presence (branding)
• Opportunities to add social components include
  hallway discussion threads (ask us about
  September 19).
• Encourage students to socialize (posting
  photographs, Facebook friends)
• Experiment with innovative office hours (e.g.
  Second Life space)
• CAVEAT bandwidth may be an issue for distant
  learners

11
The Online Students Social Experience A Tour of
the Virtual Campus

• Tim Green, Ph.D.
• tgreen_at_fullerton.ecu
• California State University, Fullerton
• Abbie Brown, Ph.D.
• brownab_at_ecu.edu
• East Carolina University