Digital Storytelling and Social Presence

Social presence is one of the three characteristics of the Community of Inquire framework. In this article, Lowenthal and Dunlap (2010) argue that digital storytelling can be a strategy used to establish social presence in online courses. Digital storytelling is defined as telling stories in a digital format. Social presence has been found to have a causal relationship to student satisfaction, the development of a community and the perception of learning. However, there is little in terms of strategies on how to achieve social presence. Based on a list presented by Rourke et al. (1999), outlining that emotions, humour and self-disclosure are three useful strategies to create social presence, Lowenthal and Dunlap (2010) argue that digital storytelling can achieve social presence through fulfilling these criteria. Referring to their own experience of online teaching, Lowenthal and Dunlap (2010) point to how they have further deployed digital storytelling as a strategy combining the creation of social presence and assessment criteria. More research is however needed to assess digital storytelling as a strategy to create social presence.

References :

Lowenthal, P. R., & Dunlap, J. C. (2010). From pixel on a screen to real person in your students' lives: Establishing social presence using digital storytelling. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1), 70-72. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.10.004

Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (1999). Assessing social presence in asynchronous text-based computer conferencing.Journal of Distance Education, 14(2), 50−71 Retrieved from http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/153/341

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