Social presence (SP) positively influences online students' motivation, satisfaction, retention, and learning outcomes. Although crucial for successful online learning experiences, little work has examined the evolution of SP over time or the effect of peer-interaction on SP. Using a longitudinal social network analysis approach (i.e., stochastic actor-oriented model), we investigated how SP perceptions evolved over a cohort of three consecutive courses. Students were asked to nominate peers with whom they share affectively in the course and to report their SP perceptions. The results suggest that over time learners reciprocate nominations, and those who nominated more peers reported higher levels of SP. Although there was no evidence of imitation, the “rich-get-richer-effect” was observed as SP perceptions decreased. Our study contributes to the definition of SP as a perception rather than an ability and reaffirms SP course design as essential at the beginning of an online learning experience.

中文翻译：

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社会存在的演变：利用社交网络分析纵向探索在线学生同伴互动的影响

社交存在 (SP) 对在线学生的动机、满意度、保留率和学习成果产生积极影响。尽管对于成功的在线学习体验至关重要，但很少有研究研究 SP 随着时间的推移的演变或同伴互动对 SP 的影响。使用纵向社交网络分析方法（即随机参与者导向模型），我们研究了 SP 感知在一组连续三个课程中如何演变。学生们被要求提名在课程中与他们有情感交流的同伴，并报告他们对 SP 的看法。结果表明，随着时间的推移，学习者会回报提名，而那些提名更多同伴的人报告的 SP 水平更高。尽管没有证据表明存在模仿，但随着 SP 认知度的下降，观察到了“富者愈富效应”。我们的研究有助于将 SP 定义为一种感知而不是一种能力，并重申 SP 课程设计在在线学习体验开始时至关重要。