Social Presence Questionnaire of Online Collaborative Learning: Development and Validity

This study articulates the construct of social presence and develops a social presence questionnaire for examining online collaborative learning with tests for reliability and validity. Questionnaire items were developed by revising the social presence questionnaire developed by Picciano in 2002 as well as eviewing research in the literature of computer support for cooperative systems (CSCW). Twenty items were developed and administered to 15 graduate students taking an online course. Exploratory factor and reliability analyses resulted in the identification of 12 items reflecting online social presence.