Skip to main content

University Students’ Online Social Presence and Digital Competencies in the COVID-19 Virus Situation

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Bridges and Mediation in Higher Distance Education (HELMeTO 2020)

Abstract

2020 is the year of change and adaptability. The COVID19 pandemic immensely influences our everyday routines. Education is no exception as schools have to transform their classroom teaching to distance online tutoring. It is not easy on either side as educators and students encountered gaps in digital capabilities. Moreover they suddenly happen to be an online medium where different social behavior pattern immerged. We were very much interested how young adults endure and overcome this situation. In the present study the first result of our ongoing research that aimed to explore the digital competence and social presence among the students of the University of Pannonia are presented. The main objective was to see how students perceive their social situation online with their digital abilities, knowledge and level of competences. The results indicated that although on average perceived online social presence is not affected by individuals’ digital competences, significant relationships were found between some factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Rice, R.E.: Media appropriateness: using social presence theory to compare traditional and new organization media. Hum. Commun. Res. 19(4), 451–484 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Short, J.A., Williams, E., Christie, B.: The Social Psychology of Telecommunications, vol. 3. John Wiley, London (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Walther, J.B.: Interpersonal effects in computer-mediated interaction: a relational perspective. Commun. Res. 19(1), 52–90 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Walther, J.B., Burgoon, J.K.: Relational communication in computer-mediated interaction. Hum. Commun. Res. 19, 50–88 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Seaman, J.E., Allen, I.E., Seaman, J.: Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Burke, L.: Colleges Move Online Amid Virus Fears (2020). https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/03/09/colleges-move-classes-online-coronavirus-infects-more

  7. Goldstein, D.: Coronavirus is shutting schools. Is America ready for virtual learning? (2020). https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/virtual-learning-challenges.html

  8. Brown Barnes, C.J.: Noble Education survey reveals college student preparedness split: technically ready for online learning, but emotionally unsure (2020). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005156/en/

  9. Chang, C.M., Hsu, M.H.: Understanding the determinants of users’ subjective well-being in social networking sites: an integration of social capital theory and social presence theory. Behav. Inf. Technol. 35(9), 720–729 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cui, G., Lockee, B., Meng, C.: Building modern online social presence: a review of social presence theory and its instructional design implications for future trends. Educ. Inf. Technol. 18(4), 661–685 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dunlap, J.C., Lowenthal, P.R.: Tweeting the night away: using twitter to enhance social presence. J. Inf. Syst. Educ. 20(2), 129–136 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  12. McLean, G., Wilson, A.: Evolving the online customer experience… is there a role for online customer support? Comput. Hum. Behav. 60, 602–610 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. McLean, G., Osei-Frimpong, K.: Examining satisfaction with the experience during a live chat service encounter-implications for website providers. Comput. Hum. Behav. 76, 494–508 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Shen, K.N., Yu, A.Y., Khalifa, M.: Knowledge contribution in virtual communities: accounting for multiple dimensions of social presence through social identity. Behav. Inf. Technol. 29(4), 337–348 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Statista, Share of households with a computer at home in developed countries from 2005 to 2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/748557/developed-countries-households-with-computer/. Accessed 21 may 2020

  16. Statista, Global digital population as of April 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/. Accessed 21 May 2020

  17. Statista, Forecast number of mobile users worldwide from 2019 to 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/218984/number-of-global-mobile-users-since-2010/. Accessed 21 May 2020

  18. Janssen, J., Stoyanov, S., Ferrari, A., Punie, Y., Pannekeet, K., Sloep, P.: Experts’ views on digital competence: commonalities and differences. Comput. Educ. 68, 473–481 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. World Bank: ICTs are creating new jobs and making labor markets more innovative, inclusive, and global – World Bank study. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-re-lease/2013/09/10/icts-are-creating-new-jobs-and-making-labor-markets-more-innovative-inclusive-and-global-world-bank-study. Accessed 01 Feb 2018

  20. Ilomäki, L., Paavola, S., Lakkala, M., Kantosalo, A.: Digital competence–an emergent boundary concept for policy and educational research. Educ. Inf. Technol. 21(3), 655–679 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. European Community: Key competences for lifelong learning - A European framework. Publication Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Vuorikari, R., Punie, Y., Carretero Gomez S., Van den Brande, G.: DigComp 2.0: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens. Update Phase 1: The Conceptual Reference Model. Luxembourg Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Carretero, S., Vuorikari, R., Punie, Y.: DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Brečko, B., Ferrari, A.: The Digital Competence Framework for Consumers. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Richardson, J.C., Maeda, Y., Lv, J., Caskurlu, S.: Social presence in relation to students’ satisfaction and learning in the online environment: a meta-analysis. Comput. Hum. Behav. 71, 402–417 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Reio, T.G., Jr., Crim, S.J.: Social presence and student satisfaction as predictors of online enrollment intent. Am. J. Distance Educ. 27(2), 122–133 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Berger, J.B., Milem, J.F.: The role of student involvement and perceptions of integration in a causal model of student persistence. Res. High. Educ. 40(6), 641–664 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Swan, K., Shih, L.F.: On the nature and development of social presence in online course discussions. J. Asynchronous Learn. Netw. 9(3), 115–136 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Mazzolini, M., Maddison, S.: When to jump in: the role of the instructor in online discussion forums. Comput. Educ. 49(2), 193–213 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Hughes, J.N., Luo, W., Kwok, O.M., Loyd, L.K.: Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: a 3-year longitudinal study. J. Educ. Psychol. 100(1), 1–14 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Tu, C.H.: Online learning migration: from social learning theory to social presence theory in CMC environment. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 23(1), 27–37 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Short, J., Williams, E., Christie, B.: The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. John Wiley, Hoboken (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Biocca, F., Harms, C.: Defining and measuring social presence: contribution to the networked minds theory and measure. Proceedings of Presence 2002, 1–36 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Gunawardena, C.N.: Social presence theory and implications for interaction and collaborative learning in computer conferences. Int. J. Educ. Telecommun. 1(2), 147–166 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Biocca, F.: The cyborg's dilemma: progressive embodiment in virtual environments. J. Comput.-Mediated Commun. 3(2), JCMC324 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Reeves, B., Nass, C.I.: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media like Real People and Places. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Gunawardena, C.N., Zittle, F.J.: Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment. Am. J. Distance Educ. 11(3), 8–26 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Perse, E.I., Burton, P., Kovner, E., Lears, M.E., Sen, R.J.: Predicting computer-mediated communication in a college class. Commun. Res. Rep. 9(2), 161–170 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Van Deursen, A.J., Helsper, E.J., Eynon, R.: Development and validation of the internet skills scale (ISS). Inf. Commun. Soc. 19(6), 804–823 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Kress, G.R.: Literacy in the New Media Age. Routledge, London (2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  41. Kress, G.R., Van Leeuwen, T.: Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd edn. Routledge, Florence (2006)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  42. Jolls, T.: Literacy for the 21st Century: An Overview & Orientation Guide to Media Literacy Education: Center for Media Literacy (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Ohler, J.: Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. Learning, and Creativity. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, New Media Pathways to Literacy (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Frazel, M.: Digital Storytelling Guide for Educators. International Society for Technology in Education, USA (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Gilster, P.: Digital Literacy. John Wiley, New York (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Gee, J.P.: What Video Games Have to Teach as About Learning and Literacy?, 1st edn. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Lankshear, C., Knobel, M.: New Literacies: Changing Knowledge and Classroom Learning. Open University Press, Buckingham England (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Ibrahim, N., Shariman, T.N.T., Woods, P.: The Concept of Digital Literacy from the Perspective of the Creative Multimedia Industry 2013 International Conference, pp. 259–264. IEEE (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Koltay, T.: The media and the literacies: media literacy, information literacy, digital literacy. Med. Cult. Soc. 33(2), 211–221 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Partnership for 21st Century Learning. Framework for 21st Century Learning (2015), 12 October 2016. https://www.p21.org

  51. Voogt, J., Roblin, N.P.: A comparative analysis of international frameworks for 21st century competences: implications for national curriculum policies. J. Curriculum Stud. 44(3), 299–321 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Eshet-Alkalai, Y.: Digital literacy: a conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era. J. Educ. Multimed. Hypermed. 13(1), 93–106 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Goodfellow, R.: Literacy, literacies and the digital in higher education. Teach. High. Educ. 16(1), 131–144 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Bak, G.: Digitális kompetencia: új trend vagy szükséges tudás? In: Conference Proceedings of VI. Winter Conference of Economics Ph.D. Students and Researchers, pp. 6–13. Doktoranduszok Országos Szövetsége, Gödöllő (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  55. SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy. The SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy (2011). https://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/coremodel.pdf

  56. Lankshear, C., Knobel, M.: Digital Literacies: Concepts. Policies and Practices. Peter Lang, New York (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  57. Greene, J.A., Yu, S.B., Copeland, D.Z.: Measuring critical components of digital literacy and their relationships with learning. Comput. Educ. 76, 55–69 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. SIEMENS. African Digitalization Maturity Report (2017). https://www.siemens.co.za/pool/about_us/CG_17-015_African_Digitalization_Maturity_Report.pdf

  59. Covello, S., Lei, J.: A Review of Digital Literacy Assessment Instruments. Syracuse University, pp. 1–31 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  60. McKinsey and Company: Offline and Falling behind: Barriers to Internet Adoption, September 2014. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/offline-andfalling-behind-barriers-to-internet-adoption

  61. Ridsdale, C., et al.: Strategies and Best Practices for Data Literacy Education: Knowledge (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  62. UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education. Digital Literacy in Education. Policy Brief, May 2011 (2011). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002144/214485e.pdf

  63. Gallardo-Echenique, E.E., de Oliveira, J.M., Marqués-Molias, L., Esteve-Mon, F., Wang, Y., Baker, R.: Digital competence in the knowledge society. MERLOT J. Online Learn. Teach. 11(1), 1–16 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Calvani, A., Cartelli, A., Fini, A., Ranieri, M.: Models and instruments for assessing digital competence at school. J. E-learn. Knowl. Soc. 4(3), 183–193 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Kang, M., Choi, H., Park, S.: Construction and validation of a social presence scale for measuring online learners' involvement. In: EdMedia+ Innovate Learning, pp. 1829–1833. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  66. Allen, I.E., Seaman, J.: Online Report Card: Tracking Online Education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group, Massachusetts (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  67. Horzum, M.B.: Interaction, structure, social presence, and satisfaction in online learning. Eurasia J. Math. Sci. Technol. Educ. 11(3), 505–512 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Bloom, M.: E-learning in Canada: findings from 2003 e-survey: top line findings from a survey of the Conference Board of Canada’s customers on current e-learning practices: a special report. Conference Board of Canada, Ontario (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  69. de Bruyn, L.L.: Monitoring online communication: can the development of convergence and social presence indicate an interactive learning environment? Distance Educ. 25, 67–81 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Christopherson, K.M.: The positive and negative implications of anonymity in internet social interactions: “On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Comput. Hum. Behav. 23, 3038–3056 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Cobb, S.C.: Social presence and online learning: a current view from a research perspective. J. Interact. Online Learn. 8(3), 241–254 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  72. Shin, N.: Transactional presence as a critical predictor of success in distance learning. Distance Educ. 24(1), 69–86 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., Archer, W.: Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: computer conferencing in higher education. Internet High. Educ. 2(2/3), 87–105 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Richardson, J.C., Swan, K.: Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students’ perceived learning and satisfaction. J. Asynchronous Learn. Netw. 7(1), 68–88 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  75. Gunawardena, C., Lowe, C.A., Anderson, T.: Analysis of a global online debate and the development of an interaction analysis model for examining social construction of knowledge in computer conference. J. Educ. Comput. Res. 17(4), 397–431 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Poquet, O., Kovanović, V., de Vries, P., Hennis, T., Joksimović, S., Gašević, D., Dawson, S.: Social presence in massive open online courses. Int. Rev. Res. Open Distrib. Learn. 19(3), 43–68 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  77. Sung, E., Mayer, R.E.: Five facets of social presence in online distance education. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28(5), 1738–1747 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edit Kővári .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Kővári, E., Bak, G. (2021). University Students’ Online Social Presence and Digital Competencies in the COVID-19 Virus Situation. In: Agrati, L.S., et al. Bridges and Mediation in Higher Distance Education. HELMeTO 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1344. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67435-9_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67435-9_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67434-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67435-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics