title: Enhancing Adults' Social Connectedness in the Online Learning Environment
Creators: name: Lim, Eunice S
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: online learning
subject: social connectedness
subject: adult education
subject: Singapore

description: The adult education landscape has undergone significant changes since the COVID-19 pandemic when the adoption of online education accelerated due to lockdowns. Recent advancements in digital technologies have further extended the scope for online education to be broadly accessible for the working age adult population. The convenience and accessibility for learning and upskilling through online education is attractive, although it demands appropriate online pedagogies. While a range of strategies and innovations, enabled by emerging technologies, have enhanced online educational experiences, one feature that demands more attention is social connectedness, since these new technologies struggle to replicate the authenticity of the personal interaction of face-to-face sessions. That is, non-verbal (i.e., gestures, facial expressions, postures) and environmental cues (i.e., physical seZngs, proximity) are difficult to emulate through online technologies. Yet, social connectedness and the quality of interpersonal relationships and bonds need to be initiated, encouraged, and supported for effective learning experiences. So, online educational provisions require careful deliberations about how to enhance social connectedness for effective learning. There is limited research focusing on enhancing social connectedness in online education environments, making it difficult to proceed confidently in designing and providing online educational experiences for learners. Consequently, the review of literature and practical inquiry reported and discussed in this thesis investigated practices and pedagogies aimed at enhancing social connectedness in the online education environment within the context of adult education in Singapore. The inquiry was guided by the following questions: RQ1. What are the features of effective pedagogies for incorporating social connectedness in the online education environment? RQ2. How are adult educators currently practising social connectedness in the online education environment? RQ3. How have the practices of social connectedness in online learning changed post-COVID? RQ4. How has generative AI impacted adult educators' practices of social connectedness in the online education environment? RQ5. What are the key elements of an intended and enacted curriculum for upskilling of adult educators for social connectedness in the online education environment? A comprehensive review of literature was followed by interview data being collected from 10 adult educators from Singapore who had extensive experience with online education provisions. Artefacts used by the informants were examined to understand their practices for fostering social connectedness. A second data collection phase was conducted to address the rapid changes in education provisions following the pandemic and the advent of generative artificial intelligence. Follow up interviews and a second survey were conducted with the same informants. The findings shed light on practices to facilitate social connectedness for online education and highlight some early challenges and opportunities encountered by educators as they begin to integrate generative artificial intelligence to enhance social connectedness in their teaching practices. The understandings acquired from the findings resulted in five key contributions: - The importance of social connectedness for effective online education, highlighting the need for intentional efforts to facilitate that connectedness. - An appraised theoretical frame for social connectedness, incorporating the elements of connectedness, belongingness, relatedness, intersubjectivity, and psychological safety. The appraised framework provides a clear path for educators to implement appropriate teaching strategies and technological tools to enhance social connectedness. - The emphasis on the need for psychological safety in the online environment, where trust and freedom to share views are essential. - The importance of incorporating blended learning and knowledge appropriation to enable interactions for sense-making in response to generative artificial intelligence impacting social connectedness. - A proposed curriculum to provide educators with the knowledge, competencies, and possible teaching strategies to enhance social connectedness in online education provisions. In summary, the appraised social connectedness framework serves as a guide and input for a curriculum for upskilling educators in online instructional design. This framework, alongside existing models for online learning engagement, collaborations, and communities for knowledge appropriation may better equip educators and education institutions to design and implement an effective curriculum for online education, thereby creating a richer and more engaging learning experience for adult learners.