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How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Students’ Online Social Presence?

Author

Listed:
  • Hamidreza Panjehfouladgaran

    (Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5UG, United Kingdom)

  • Foteini Stavropoulou

    (Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5UG, United Kingdom)

  • Misha Teimouri

    (Department of Communication, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected higher education institutions worldwide as they had to switch from face-to-face to online teaching almost overnight. This abrupt change made a huge impact on teaching, learning, and particularly, student engagement. This paper focuses on online social presence as an element of student engagement, which represents how students feel under synchronous online teaching. A survey was conducted among 244 first-year students to evaluate the impact of online social interaction, online collaboration, online contact with staff, online engagement, and online active learning on online social presence. Structural equation modeling was used to test and evaluate these multivariate relationships. Our study illustrates that all variables have a significant positive relationship with online social presence. In particular, online social interaction and online collaboration show a more powerful relationship with student online social presence. Thus, digital technologies should be adopted in a way that encourages students to actively interact with their peers.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamidreza Panjehfouladgaran & Foteini Stavropoulou & Misha Teimouri, 2025. "How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Students’ Online Social Presence?," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 106-121, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:25:y:2025:i:2:p:106-121
    DOI: 10.1287/ited.2022.0054
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. George D. Kuh & Ty M. Cruce & Rick Shoup & Jillian Kinzie & Robert M. Gonyea, 2008. "Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement on First-Year College Grades and Persistence," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(5), pages 540-563, September.
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