Description
Discussion: Designing Presence in eLearning
Current developments in technology and social media are changing how learners access information and communicate with fellow learners and instructors. As a result, educators are developing new paradigms to understand their roles in the learning process. For this Discussion, you will analyze three requirements for online instructors for establishing presence in an eLearning environment: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. These requirements are critical in order to engage eLearners successfully. You will also examine Siemens’s theory of connectivism and determine how presence can be achieved through this theoretical framework.
To prepare:
Read Exploring a Community of Inquiry Supported by a Social Media-Based Learning Environment, and Learning and Knowing in Networks: Changing Roles for Educators and Designers. Reflect on how Siemens’ theory of connectivism relates to requirements for establishing presence.
Review Anatomy of eLearning: Conceptual Framework, the interactive media presentation, with a focus on the “Connectivism” (turquoise) section to view Siemens’ video. Click on the word Connectivism to access the resource.
Post the following:
Explain how eLearning has had an impact on the changing roles of learners and instructors in learning settings. Include the eLearning strategies you believe are most effective for fostering social, cognitive, and teaching presence in learning settings.
Explain the strategies you would use to create social, cognitive, and teaching presence as a designer and/or instructor of a course. Support your evaluation with principles from connectivism theory, personal experience, and at least one research study (PhD, EdD, and EdS students) or dissertation/project study (PhD and EdD students); include course resources as applicable.
