High Impact Strategies for Enhancing Student Engagement in Hybrid & Online Marketing Courses H. Rika Houston, Shirley Stretch & Michael Germano

Social Presence and Online Instruction• Context and background• The problem• High Impact Strategies for

Increasing Social Presence• Examples

Social Presence• “a measure of the feeling of community that a

learner experiences in an online environment” (Tu and McIssac, 2002)

• “social presence marks a qualitative difference between a collaborative community of inquiry and a simple process of downloading information” (Garrison et al., 2000)

• Strong correlation between social presence and student satisfaction/achievement in online instruction (Cobb, 2009)

The Problem• How do classroom participants

connect (to each other and instructor as well as material) in order to facilitate a meaningful online learning experience?

• Structural impediments are many

Increasing Social Presence via Instructional Design • Collaborative learning is crucial • Assignments that are shared and

visible like blogs, chatroom discussions, shared video projects are key

Social Presence and Collaborative Online Learning• Active collaborative learning is

key to establishing community in online classes (Garrison et al., (2000)

• Small group learning in real time based upon tasks (e.g. via Google Hangouts)

Social Presence and Professor Presence• Instructors must be present in a way that

transcends the material and makes them a force for learning; Leadership required!

• Communication that is regular, ongoing and emotional (funny is easiest to tap into!)

• Clarify emotions. Use of emoticons shows huge impact on student receptivity to communication as emotionally laden (Gunawardenaa & Zittleb, 2009)

• Accessibility is key. Firefox Hello for real time video office hours helps; Twitter DM; WhatsApp

Consumer Behavior• Watch movie Good Will

Hunting (social; shared experience)

• Online discussion about something very personal but dependent upon critical thinking related to course

International marketing• Cuba and the trade embargo

discussion• Taps into deep feelings about the

propriety of US policy and history with Latin America

• Controversy breeds emotion and engagement

Social media content marketing• Twitter as a tool for group

interaction • Social media=Social Presence for

many of our student• Super Bowl Sunday Real Time

Tweeting• Other events: Oscars, Emmys, etc.

Search Engine Optimization• Adobe connect for website SEO

audit (task based going deeper with content)

• Small group meetings on projects• Share documents discuss tools

and audit reports• Continue work on Google hangouts

Summing Up: High Impact Strategies• Embrace role as discussion leader, tour

guide; No room for sage on the stage • Scope of content should focus on depth

not breadth• Be social (names, emoticons, humor,

cheerleader, available)• Tasked based project