From a voluntary survey of 699 undergraduate and graduate online students at a mid-sized regional university, Baker (2010) recorded that instructor presence had a statistically significant positive impact on effective learning, cognition, and motivation. Here, instructor presence was described as being actively engaged in an online discussion, providing quick and personal feedback to assignments, or being available frequently throughout the course (p. 6).
Interaction among students.
Moore (1989) was also concerned with the transactional distance between the students themselves. Moore posited that inter-learner interaction could become an “extremely valuable resource for learning” (p. 2). Although important, Moore observed that inter-learner interaction was most impactful among younger learners. It was not as important for most adult and advanced learners who are more self-motivated. That may be one reason as to why Baker (2010) found that instructor presence had a greater influence on reducing frustration and increasing social presence than peer presence (p. 23).
Interaction with the system.
Bouhnik and Marcus (2006) added to Moore's (1989) original three interactions by including the interaction students have with the system itself. They posited, “there is a need to make sure that the technology itself will remain transparent and will not create a psychological or functional barrier” (p. 303). If interaction with the system produced conflicts that were not resolved quickly, a student’s level of satisfaction and ability to accomplish learning outcomes could be negatively impacted. Specifically, when designing a technological system, Bouhnik and Marcus stressed the need for “building a support system, with maximum accessibility” (p. 303).
Importance of Sense of Community
Building such a support system as Bohnik and Marcus discussed can enable these four varying kinds of learner interactions to occur more easily. This, in turn, can increase a student’s sense of community (SOC). Sarason (1974), when coining the term, defined SOC as "the perception of similarity to others, an acknowledged interdependence with others, a willingness to maintain this interdependence by giving to or doing for others what one expects from them, and the feeling that one is part of a larger dependable and stable structure" (p. 157). Though Sarason coined the term SOC, it has been the subject of much research, either directly or indirectly, over the last century (Glynn, 1981, p. 791). Due to its broad nature, research on SOC can be found in many fields of study. McMillan and George (1986) stressed the need for more research and understanding on the SOC in order to better inform public policy and “strengthen the social fabric” (p. 16) with more concrete solutions on how to increase community in a variety of settings. Their hope was that research into the SOC would foster open, accepting communities built on understanding and cooperation.