Cognitive Consequences of Social Presence in Online Asynchronous Learning: A Grounded Theory Study

Students’ social experience in fully online learning is critical to academic success. However, little is known about students’ experience in online asynchronous education, particularly regarding social presence, knowledge building, and collaborative learning. In a constructivist grounded theory study, 22 graduate students enrolled in library and information studies programs in eight US higher education institutions were interviewed about their affective feelings in online learning, their perceptions of people as real, knowing what others know and how well they know it, and social conflict monitoring. The findings reveal the need for improvements in online teaching and learning strategies and suggests that instructors should model presenting themselves as real persons through increased use of audio and visual instruction.