"I feel like I am part of a community": Creating social presence at a programme level through Facebook groups

Sutherland, Neil; Williams, Rachel

Abstract

In this presentation we reflect on the importance of creating social presence at a programme level, specifically in virtual environments. Briefly defined, social presence is the degree to which participants feel like they feel a part of, and know other members of, a community (Abduallah, 1999). Current literature suggests that high social presence is born from informal, human and personalised communications and can have a significant impact on interaction, persistence, resilience, satisfaction, learning and motivation.
With an often greater physical distance between student groups, and between students/tutors, a tangible sense of community becomes even more pressing to avoid feelings of isolation. Whilst there is considerable literature around the approaches that individual modules might take here we consider the opportunities and potentialities of creating social presence at a programme level. Specifically, we reflect on two years of leading the BA(Hons) Business & Management programme (which is the second largest at UWE, with over 1000 students over four levels), and how Facebook groups have been utilised to construct virtual communities for entire year groups.
Three principal lessons have emerged and these will be discussed. First, the promotion of collegiality and community. Second, alongside this, we note the value of content provision and clear leadership.
Finally, related to this: in order to achieve high social presence, this leadership should feel ‘intimate’. Given that student satisfaction is often measured (both formally and informally) at programme level; that virtual environments are now well entrenched in contemporary Higher Education landscapes; and that it can be more difficult to create a sense of community when participants are not physically together, investigating the creation of social presence at programme level through Facebook groups is a key task. Our experience and student feedback highlights how significant this can be: for decreasing feelings of isolation and instead promoting a sense of belonging within a wider community.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: UWE Festival of Learning, 2021
• Start Date: Jun 17, 2021
• End Date: Jun 22, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10549851
• Related Public URLs: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/events/festival-of-learning