Introduction  

Since the inception of interactive digital technologies, distance education has been rapidly transformed from an independent study experience into a highly interactive networked learning opportunity for millions of students worldwide.  Interactive digital technologies, from Audioconferencing via telephony, through to digitally based intelligent computer networked environments, are now in regular use within most of the world’s leading universities.  However, technology engenders problems as well as solutions.

The Problem with Digital Learning Environments….

There is a popular belief amongst academic managers that digital learning environments can reduce costs, such as travel, resourcing for real estate and lecturer salaries.  This belief holds that the delivery of learning materials to distributed students is essentially more cost effective than traditional methods of education.  In some contexts the economies of scale required do in fact steadily reduce costs over a period of time, but this is rare.  For most universities, the long lead in times required to develop reliable, intelligent and accessible digital resources often thwart any hopes of cost saving, and invariably create stress and higher workloads for academics and support staff alike.  For others, the implementation of technology supported distance education can be increasingly costly, and ultimately may reap few dividends.    

Arguably, economic and logistical issues are not the most important issues to address in the large scale implementation of digital networked learning environments.  In this paper, I wish to draw attention to the human, and particularly the psychological issues that emerge invariably in such situations.  The action of interlacing digital technology with human intelligence tends to produce problems that are often unforeseen.

Human Issues  

It is generally accepted that a large proportion of students who study at a distance tend to experience social isolation, technical problems which lead to demotivation, and a lack of focus or impetus, if left with no direct or regular contact with their tutors and peer group (Rovai, 2002).  It has been argued that the most effective technology supported distance learning environments are those where social interaction is a predominant feature of the successful online learning experience (Muilenberg & Berge, 2005).  Furthermore, interaction is an important factor if students are to value their studies and perceive satisfying outcomes.   Interestingly, Anderson and Garrison (1995) suggested that sustained interaction between students and tutors might not be essential in all learning situations.  They qualified this statement however, by showing that students’ perceptions of quality and value were enhanced when opportunities for learner-teacher dialogue were increased.   Links have been established between student perceptions of negative experience such as social isolation and high dropout rates in e-learning (Carr, 2000).

Another factor for successful implementation of digital learning environments is the need to design and present navigable and accessible spaces within which students can individually and corporately explore, create and communicate.  The relationship between academics (content creators) and web designers (content managers) is a vital one, second only to the tutor’s relationship with students (content consumers). 

Perhaps the most important human issue to impact upon the success of digital learning environments has always been the ease with which distance learners can have access to, and communicate with their tutors.  Without this capability, distance learners will often founder, become increasingly frustrated, and ultimately fail.  Student dropout can be in excess of 50 per cent (Simpson, 2004), a statistic that would be completely unacceptable in most conventional educational settings.  In the user led economy that is distance education, such magnitude of failure is alarming. 

Historically, distance education is littered with significant failures at an institutional and even national level, and these often result from a combination of poor planning, ignorance of the needs of distance learners, or a shortfall in resourcing (Garland, 1993; Cegles, 1998).  In the United Kingdom , the loss of £50 million and the subsequent closure of the British Government’s flagship UKeU ( United Kingdom e-Learning University) is a classic example of spectacular failure at an institutional level due to poor conceptualisation and marketing of innovation.  In short, it appears that many forms of networked learning do not appear to be working at all. 

Social Presence Theory

The concept of social presence was first identified by Short, Williams and Christie (1976) who defined it as the perception that one is communicating with people rather than with inanimate objects despite being located in different places.  The ability of people to work together effectively in groups is central to social presence theory, so the model is of great interest to distance educators (Stein & Wanstreet, 2003).  According to Short et al, when social presence is low, group members feel disconnected and group dynamics suffer.  Conversely, when social presence is high, members tend to feel more engaged, and are motivated to participate in group processes such as collaborative learning.  Stein and Wanstreet (2003) suggest that if social presence is high in a group, the group will be better placed to substitute technology mediated communication for face to face communication. 

These findings may be of interest to teachers who aim to deliver dual-mode or blended educational programmes.  Similarly to Short et al, Garrison (1990) believes that social presence is the extent to which remote communicators can project themselves to others using any given technology or medium.  Tutor interpersonal skills and adaptability are therefore vital ingredients for the promulgation of social presence within digital learning environments.

Recent Research Findings

From recent studies we have learned that there are several useful strategies that can be employed to obviate most of the problems identified in this paper.  Willis, for example, claims that: “High student motivation is required to complete distant courses because day-to-day contact with teachers and other students is typically lacking.  Instructors can help to motivate students by providing consistent and timely feedback, encouraging discussion among students, being well prepared for class, and by encouraging and reinforcing effective student study habits.”  (Willis, 1993, p 20).  Willis expects that student attrition can be reduced if the above teacher activities are maintained, and support is given through these means. 

Student attributes and attitudes also play an important role in ensuring success in e-learning.  Those who are proactive in learning, such as the strategic or autonomous learner (Entwistle, 1988) tend to succeed more often and are likely to persist in their studies more than those who adopt a surface approach to study.  This is a critical feature in e-learning, where students are deprived of a great deal of the social contact enjoyed by their traditional counterparts.  Students who are tenacious in their approach to study tend to overcome or circumvent problems faced in digital learning environments through creative problem solving and active expert help seeking. 

Tammelin (1998) found that the personalities and ind ividual communication styles of students participating in online discussion groups brought colour and vitality to what would otherwise be an uninspiring, text based discussion.  This kind of social presence improved student perceptions of the value and agency of their studies.  Wheeler and Reid (2005) showed that student attributes such as strategic or deep study approaches could ameliorate the effects of social isolation whilst social presence effects such as immediacy of dialogue between tutor and student enabled the latter to appreciate a richness of social presence.

Significantly, such recipes for success are premised on the quality and provision of the del ivery technology.  In correspondence courses, technology failure is limited to an interruption in the delivery of mail.  Where digital learning environments are employed, technical failure can be multifarious and complex, from simple but frustrating slow file download or connectivity problems, or intermittent server failure, through to more intractable firewall and accessibility issues, or even insidious problems such as virus attacks, denial of service and disruption caused by the malicious activities of malware writers and hackers. 

Students, particularly those who are less autonomous, need to know that the del ivery system they are using is reliable, has around the clock support, and can provide them with access to online resources, services and learning facilities when they need it, where they need it, and at a pace that suits their lifestyles (Townsend & Wheeler, 2004).  Without this provision, technology supported distance education loses its advantage over conventional education.  It is also worth considering that students who rely exclusively on digital technologies to study are vulnerable when technology fails.  For some, it is the equivalent of suddenly going blind and deaf.  

The Role of ‘Organic’ Technologies

Perhaps one of the most exciting recent developments in digital learning environments is the emergence of ‘organic’ technologies.  The use of the term ‘organic’ ind icates that such applications rely on growth to maintain their impetus and currency, facilitated through active engagement on the part of the user or user group.  Wiki based communication in a hybrid of information and communication centred technologies.  Wikis enable users to post a subject and then evolve it over a period of time either as more information is added by users, or knowledge increases around the subject.  The powerful nature of such applications in embodied in the idea that many users, through consensus and mutual knowledge construction can create and maintain digital artefacts to represent these forms of activity.  This excerpt from a wiki site illustrates its potential social application in education:

“A Wiki can be thought of as a combination of a Web site and a Word document. At its simplest, it can be read just like any other web site, with no access privileges necessary, but its real power lies in the fact that groups can collaboratively work on the content of the site using nothing but a standard web browser. Beyond this ease of editing, the second powerful element of a wiki is its ability to keep track of the history of a document as it is revised. Since users come to one place to edit, the need to keep track of Word files and compile edits is eliminated. Each time a person makes changes to a wiki page, that revision of the content becomes the current version, and an older version is stored. Versions of the document can be compared side-by-side, and edits can be “rolled back” if necessary.”

(Source: http://scienceofspectroscopy.info/wiki/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education)  

Another example of the organic technology is the ‘blog or web log.  Generally, these are less collaborative than wikis, but still have the power to challenge perceptions and create environments that are discursive and constructive for distributed learners.  Asynchronous threaded discussion groups or chat systems attached to the ‘blogs can provide a dynamic and extended forum for discussion and debate.  Such organic technologies have the potential to increase social presence capability for online learning needs and will no doubt become more important to the e-learning technology mix as time goes by.

Conclusion

In conclusion we have seen that digital learning environments can be adapted and designed to facilitate a number of social presence features.  Students studying at a distance need support in a number of areas, and it is incumbent on the distance educator, instructional designer and programme manager to provide such features.  Recent research ind icates that without social presence being built into digital learning environments, students often struggle to maintain their focus, lose their study impetus, and sadly, often leaving a course before completing.  Social presence is thus a vital component of success in any digital learning environment and should be a priority for all distance educators to consider.

References

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Carr, S. (2000) As Distance Education comes of Age, the Challenge is Keeping the Students.  Chronicle of Higher Education.  46 (23), 39-41.

Cegles, K. A. (1998) Emerging Issues Affecting Distance Education Research and Practice in Higher Education: A Global Futures Perspective.  UMI Publications: Ann Arbor , MI .

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Garrison, D. R. (1990) An Analysis and Evaluation of Audioteleconferencing to Facilitate Education at a Distance. The American Journal of Distance Education.  4 (3), 13-24.

Entwistle, N. J. (1988) Styles of Learning and Teaching.  London : David Fulton.

Garrison, D. R. (1990) An Analysis and Evaluation of Audioteleconferencing to Facilitate Education at a Distance. The American Journal of Distance Education.  4 (3), 13-24.

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Short, J., Williams, E. and Chris tie, B, (1976) The Social Psychology of Telecommunications.  London : John Wiley and Sons.

Simpson, O. (2004) The impact on retention of interventions to support distance learning students.  Open Learning. 19 (1), 79-95.

Stein, D. S. and Wanstreet, C. E. (2003) Role of Social Presence, Choice of Online or Face-to-Face Format, and Satisfaction with Perceived Knowledge Gained in a Distance Learning Environment.  Paper presented at the Midwest Research to Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing and Community Education.  [Online at: www.alumni-osu.org/midwest%20papers/Stein%20&%20Wanstreet-Done.pdf ] (Retrieved: 9 May, 2004 ).

Tammelin, M. (1998) From Telepresence to Social Presence: The Role of Presence in a Network-Based Learning Environment. In Tella, S. (Ed.) Aspects of Media Education: Strategic Imperatives in the Information Age. Media Education Centre. Department of Teacher Education. University of Helsinki . Media Education Publications 8. [ Online at: http://hkkk.fi/~tammelin/MEP8.tammelin.html ]  (Retrieved 19/1/06 )

Townsend, M. and Wheeler, S (2004) Is There Anybody Out There? Teaching Assistants’ Experiences with Online Learning. Quarterly Review of Distance Education. 5 (2), 127-138.

Muilenberg, L. Y. and Berge, Z. (2005) Student Barriers to Online Learning: A Factor Analytic Study.  Distance Education.  26 (1), 29-48.  

Wheeler, S. and Reid, F. (2005) A Matter of Perception? Transactional Distance and Student Support in Distance Education.  Paper presented at the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) 2005 Conference, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland . June 20-23.