THE EFFECT OF TYPE OF COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION TOOLS ON SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE PRESENCE IN ONLINE LEARNING COMMUNITY

The main aim of this study was to find out the effect of type of computer mediated commucation tools and the virtual guest participation on students' social and cognitive presence in online learning communities designed for blended learning environment. The research was carried out in 2x2 factorial design. Participants were 85 students of the Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies Education. The data of the study were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney-U Test for independent samples and by using content analysis schemes for online discussions. The results showed that the type of computer mediated communication tools has significant effect on the social (U=136.50, p<.05) and cognitive presence (U=97.00, p<.05) whereas the virtual guest participation has no significant effect on the social presence (U=253.00, p>05) and cognitive presence (U=329.00 p>05). In addition, no significant relationship found between gender and the sense of classroom community (U=685.00, p>05), however, female students reported significantly higher level of feeling of learning than did male counterparts. Similarly, females reported significantly higher level of comfort on sharing personal information (U=616.00, p<05).