I have taken a number of online courses through the on-line PhD Nursing program at UW Milwaukee. Most have been very well prepared but a couple have not been and a lack of presence was definitely missing. Of the courses that I have taken where a good presence was felt online the impact was improved involvement of the students and the instructor was an active participant, guiding group discussion (especially when we wandered off-topic) and assisting us with finding appropriate technology support as needed to keep us involved. We used the D2L site mainly with some skype and eluminate. We had mainly audio recording but one instructor included some video lectures as well.
I believe I would define presence as the authors defined it, being there and being together as a group. When I create an online course I would use strategies to ensure students feel included/wanted, respond often to encourage the students to feel that their conversations in their discussion groups are read and as the instructor I would ensure I provide thoughtful and thought provoking feedback. I would also ensure I had online office hours that provided variety of hours during the week and ensure I checked discussions frequently during the day and respond to students by name so that students feel they have prompt responses to their questions.
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