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Text Messaging to Improve Social Presence in Online Learning
By Barry Duvall (University of South Carolina), Matthew Powell (East Carolina University), Elizabeth Hodge (East Carolina University), and Maureen Ellis (East Carolina University)
A pilot study of text messaging explored its usefulness in enhancing social presence and communication in online courses.
Jimmy, an Army private, waiting in a hot and smelly tent West of Baghdad; Molly, a stay-at-home mother, waiting with her baby in a Laundromat for clothes to dry; Jane, a science teacher, waiting for the ferry to arrive; and Keith, a cell phone account executive, waiting for a day of cold calls to begin.
What could these four people possibly have in common? They represent the types of students continuing their education through distance education programs at East Carolina University (ECU). For each of them, accessing course content means connecting to the Internet to receive information presented on a Web-based learning/course management system such as Blackboard, Sakai, or Moodle.
What could these four people possibly have in common? They represent the types of students continuing their education through distance education programs at East Carolina University (ECU). For each of them, accessing course content means connecting to the Internet to receive information presented on a Web-based learning/course management system such as Blackboard, Sakai, or Moodle.
