Caring and Social Presence of Online Community, Social Networking for Online Learning In Nursing Education

Importance of Caring and Social Presence

Palloff and Pratt (1999) emphasize that certain elements are crucial for building effective online learning communities: honesty, responsiveness, relevance, respect, openness, and empowerment. To foster meaningful participation, students need to expect honest and respectful feedback, prompt responses, and relevant discussions tied to real-life scenarios. It’s also important for students to feel empowered as self-directed learners and free to express their thoughts without fearing negative repercussions, such as lower grades. Faculty must create a nurturing environment that promotes caring.

Strategies for Online Caring

In traditional classrooms, caring is often communicated through facial expressions and body language. However, online settings require different approaches. Sitzman and Leners (2006) discovered that students perceive a caring environment through frequent feedback, active participation, and faculty expressions of concern. Sitzman (2010) further noted that students value clarity in expectations, timely responses, empathy from faculty, and a high level of engagement.

In a subsequent study, Leners and Sitzman (2006) found that students appreciated personal connections with faculty and peers, along with affirmation and encouragement. Additionally, Brownrigg (2005) and Patillo (2007) highlight the need for social presence—an awareness of others in the class—and reducing transactional distance to improve motivation and engagement.

Enhancing Social Presence and Reducing Transactional Distance

To bridge the gap and enhance social presence, strategies include increasing dialogue and interaction, establishing small discussion groups, using web conferencing software (e.g., webinars), and assigning collaborative projects. Other effective methods involve utilizing polling features, increasing faculty contact through various communication technologies, and using emoticons cautiously to convey emotions.

Utilizing Social Networking Tools

Social networking tools like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, wikis, and blogs can enhance community-building in online courses. These platforms, already familiar to students, facilitate information sharing, collaborative work, and professional development.

Facebook: Students can create pages to introduce themselves, share notes, and work on projects. Some faculty even use Facebook pages for course announcements and assignments.

Twitter: This platform allows users to post brief messages (tweets) to share updates, challenge questions, and information from conferences. Faculty can use Twitter for real-time class interactions.

Blogs: Blogs promote collaboration and reflective thinking. They can serve as journals, platforms for discussing controversial topics, and tools for focus groups and sharing examples.

Wikis: Wikis facilitate group work by allowing collaborative editing of documents. They can be used for group reports, community assessments, journal clubs, and “grand rounds” where students contribute to care plans.

Professional Networking Sites: LinkedIn and similar platforms help students establish professional contacts, explore job opportunities, and engage in professional development.

Guidelines for Effective Use

When integrating social networking tools into courses, it’s crucial to:

• Define clear instructional purposes and measurable outcomes.
• Restrict communication to community members with appropriate safeguards.
• Adhere to privacy policies and respect diversity.
• Ensure professional behavior and adherence to course norms.

By implementing these strategies and tools thoughtfully, nursing education can benefit from enhanced community engagement and effective online learning experiences.