Can You See Me Now? Defining Teaching Presence in the Online Classroom Through Building a Learning Community

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1722.2010.01085.x
• Author: Ida M. Jones
• Date: 01 January 2011
• Published date: 01 January 2011

Can You See Me Now? Defining

Teaching Presence in the Online

Classroom Through Building a

Learning Community

Ida M. Jones

n

I. INTRODUCTION

Think of a college classroom and a certain image arises. The professor

enters a building, walks through the classroom door, and steps up to the

lectern or sits down at the seminar table. A lecture or discussion follows

that covers material that students have (presumably) read. The material

may be most anything, but certainly literature, history, and other liberal

arts come to mind. In addition to this material, the professor brings his or

her disciplinary knowledge and experience to the lecture or discussion.

1

The typical college classroom, as described above, depends on the

physical presence of an instructor in a brick-and-mortar or physical class-

room as a key indicator that one has entered an institution of higher

learning. The image creates an impression that, in order for learning to

occur, an instructor must be physically present to deliver substantive

course content and manage student learning. An attendant implication is

that students must be physically present in the same classroom as the in-

structor, at the same time, to listen, discuss, and become involved in the

learning environment. In the online environment, students and instruc-

tors are virtually, but not physically, present in the same environment. In

the online environment, technology mediates learning: it mediates com-

munications and information transfer between the student and the in-

r2011 The Author

Journal of Legal Studies Education r2011 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

67

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 28, Issue 1, 67–116, Winter/Spring 2011

n

Professor,Craig School of Business Faculty Fellow and Special Assistant tothe Interim Senior

Academic Technology Officer, California State University, Fresno.

1

David C. Paris, Is There a Professor in This Class?, in ISSUES IN WEB-BASED PEDAGOGY 94, 97

(Robert A. Cole ed., 2000).

structor, between the student and the content, and among the students.

Critics fear that the lack of face-to-face, personal contact with the instructor

and other students creates a remoteness that inhibits learning.

2

These ed-

ucators fear that learners lose a significant part of the learning environ-

ment because online learners cannot touch, feel, hear, or sense the direct

presence of the instructor and other students.

3

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze two online legal

environment courses to determine whether the instructor successfully

used technology to create an effective online teaching and learning envi-

ronment. The central focus is on the concept of ‘‘teaching presence’’ in

physical and online environments and how teaching presence can be cre-

ated in an online environment. Part I of the article begins by discussing

trends in online education, explaining tools used to promote learning in

the online environment, defining education, and summarizing theories of

teaching and learning. This part also examines the lecture as a method of

teaching and promoting learning. In Part II, I discuss the role of the

teacher and the concept of teaching presence. This part also comprehen-

sively describes my online courses, one graduate and one undergraduate,

which were designed to convey a sense of teaching presence. Finally, Part

III reports and evaluates the results of student surveys conducted to con-

firm whether I, as the instructor, was present in these online courses. The

article concludes with recommendations for ensuring teaching presence in

online courses. The article’s title is an adaptation of the Verizon commer-

cials whose tag line is ‘‘Can you hear me now?’’

4

II. BACKGROUND

A. Brief History of and Trends in Online Education

According to the 2006–07 report of the National Center for Education

Statistics (NCES), the entity charged with collecting education-related data

for the U.S. Department of Education, two-thirds of two- and four-year

2

Patrick B. O’Sullivan, Technologies in an Educational Environment: Lessons from a Historical Per-

spective,in ISSUES IN WEB-BASED PEDAGOGY 50, 56 (Robert A. Cole ed., 2000).

3

Id. at 55.

4

‘‘Can You Hear Me Now’’ is a registered service mark of Cellco Partnership DBA Verizon

Wireless Delaware, http://www.uspto.gov/ (last visited Sept. 28, 2010).

68 Vol. 28 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

colleges offered online, hybrid/blended online, and similar distance edu-

cation courses.

5

The NCES surveyed these colleges about a broad range of

courses. Courses ranged from those where 100 percent of instruction was

online, to courses where any percent of ‘‘seat time’’ was replaced with on-

line coursework.

6

The survey identified a clear trend toward increasing the

use of technology in education. This trend toward online education raises

several questions. For example, can online learners in an online environ-

ment receive an education equivalent to that of the face-to-face classroom?

Does the quality of education differ because the course is online? In other

words, is ‘‘online time’’ equivalent to ‘‘seat time’’?

Definitions of online courses vary. Distance education, the predeces-

sor of online education, began with correspondence courses in which in-

structors assigned readings and assignments, and students completed the

assignments and returned them to instructors.

7

The only technology or

communication medium was via mail (upgraded to the use of e-mail and

fax machines). The next advancement in technology in distance education

involved the addition of televised lectures to the correspondence course.

Fast forward to today, where electronic and digital tools range from

overhead projectors to virtual worlds.

8

Educational technologies are best

described as tools faculty use to communicate with each learner to dissem-

inate knowledge and facilitate learning.

9

These tools may include items as

diverse as pencils and paper, chalk and blackboard, and photographs, and

also digital tools such as Internet-based course management systems

(CMS) such as Blackboard and WebCT.

10

In a sense, what is described as

technology is in the eye of the beholderFitems considered technology

today may be viewed as ordinary tools for future instructors and students.

5

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS,DISTANCE EDUCATION AT DEGREE-GRANTING POST-

SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS: 2006–07 (Dec. 30, 2008), available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/

pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009044.

6

Id.at1.

7

Jon Baggaley, Where Did Distance Education Go Wrong?,29DISTANCE EDUC. 1, 39 (2008).

8

EduCause and the New Media Consortium study use of technology trends in education and

have issued annual reports about those technologies. Copies of the reports and ongoing re-

search are available at http://horizon.nmc.org/wiki/Main_Page (last visited Aug. 30, 2010).

9

O’Sullivan, supra note 2, at 57.

10

Id. at 59.

2011 / Can You See Me Now? 69