Significance
Social presence is a significant feature for improving instructional effectiveness in any setting, and one of the most significant features of distance education. Tu (2000,2001) argued that within distance learning, social presence rests upon three dimensions, social context, online communication, and interactivity. Social contexts contribute to a predictable degree of perceived social presence. Social contexts involve task orientation (Steinfield, 1986), privacy (Steinfield, 1986), topics (Argyle and Dean, 1965; Walther, 1992), social relationships (Walther, 1992) and social process (Walther, 1992). As an example, when a conversation is task based and public without a sense of community being in place, the perception of social presence is low and affective filter (a communication blockage brought about by negative emotional feelings) is high.
Read more about this topic: Social Presence Theory
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