Educational Experience

 

Human beings can learn better in environments in which they can socialize. The interaction between students and teachers makes the learning process easier and the technology can be used as a booster by the students and teachers in learning environments. It should be remembered that the fundament of learning process for both instructors and learners is being present in the learning setting. These ideas have been more valid for the online education because learning from screens may require more focus on the topic. The three types of presence: teaching, social, cognitive form the base for educational experience.

Firstly, teaching presence can be defined as the preparation and the work carried out before and during the lesson. It includes course materials, the syllabus, assignments, choices of readings and discussions. These elements can all be utilized to guide, encourage and earn learners the experience of learning. In this way, students can learn in a professional learning setting, the teachers and the students are aware of their responsibilities and flexiblities and the fundaments of learning process get determined by an bilaterally agreed way.

Secondly, the social presence can be seen as the real-like social context. Not face to face, though, social presence form the base for trust and presence in learning environment. As human beings are social creatures, social presence must be the easiest presence type for them. As the instructor tells his or her students about their life, students will also open themselves to the others and there will be a social interaction and warm setting of learning.

Finally, cognitive presence can be defined as the extent to which a group of learners can form meaning through sustained communication.(Garrison, 2006). Cognitive presence wants focus, effort and participation from both the instructors and the learners in a learning community. After a while students can form new meanings upon the former knowledge thanks to the reflection, discussions and the knowledge they gain.

In a nutshell, it can be said that the learning experience is primarily consisted of presence and the requirements of presence for an efficient learning may differ according to the presence type. In terms of the augmentation of educational quality, being aware of this presence theory can be helpful for both instructors and students.

References

Garrison, D. R. (2006a). Online collaboration principles. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1) pp. 25-34.  Accessed August 12, 2015 at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.96.4536&rep=rep1&type=pdf