- most students felt that video communication let them see the other students as real people and benefitted open communication
- most students felt that video communication made it easier to discuss topics with their peers, but felt that most students didn't watch their videos
- when only required to make one comment, students found that conversations would not last past that one comment
- most students found it easier and more natural to comment through video than text

Students' Open Communication

- most of the students thought that being able to share personal thoughts and experiences benefited the learning community and helped other students seem relatable
- half of the students thought that other students revealed little information about themselves
- some students in the student-instructor interaction through VoiceThread class reported that they weren't able to see other students' personalities due to the lack of video use

Students' Emotional Expression

- most students felt more connected to other students due to video communication; however they felt like this connection was limited to only a few peers
- half of the students reported feeling that if needed, they could ask a peer for help; the other half did not feel comfortable asking another student for help

Students' Cohesion

Students were interviewed on their open communication, emotional expression, and cohesion.

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused schools to shut down, forcing many students to continue their education via online learning. As a result, the social aspect of education was virtually eliminated, leaving students feeling alone in their online courses. To solve this, different video technologies can be used to aid instruction. This study looks at the different instructional strategies for increasing the social presence of students and instructors.

Improving online social presence through asynchronous video

Borup, J., West, R. E., & Graham, C. R. (2012). Improving online social presence through asynchronous video. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(3), 195–203. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.11.00 

- emotional expression: self-disclosure, humor, and the expression of feelings related to learning
- open communication: recognize and respectfully attend to an individual's contributions, enabling risk-free exchanges
- group cohesion: build and sustain a sense of group commitment 

Three identifiers of social presence in terms of education

Students were interviewed on the instructor's open communication, emotional expression, and cohesion

Results: Students' Perception of Instructor's Social Presence

- Researchers sampled three online sections of a technology integration course (each taught by a different instructor) for preservice teachers at a teacher preparation program.
- Assignments and procedures were similar across the three sections.
- Each teacher used a different strategy to establish social presence.
- Each student was interviewed about their feelings of social presence in their class.

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