- Online instructors should try to organize content and encourage active participation/conversation in order to make students feel included in the online community so that meaningful learning can be generated.
- Online learning environments should include learner-centered discussion and team-based learning tactics so learners perceive a high level of social presence. This enables students to share diverse ideas and extend their knowledge base.

University of California, Davis

- Teaching presence had a significant effect on both social and cognitive presence (consistent with prior research)
- Social presence had a significant effect on cognitive presence 
- Social presence had a mediating effect between teaching and cognitive presence 
- teaching/cognitive presence and perceived usefulness showed positive effects on learner satisfaction
- Learner satisfaction significantly predicted persistence 
- Presence variable and perceived usefulness failed to directly predict persistence (in contrast to prior research) 


Levels of presence and effects on usefulness and satisfaction

Joo, Y. J., Lim, K. Y., & Kim, E. K. (2011). Online university students satisfaction and persistence: Examining perceived level of presence, usefulness and ease of use as predictors in a structural model. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1654-1664. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.02.008

Online university students satisfaction and persistence: Examining perceived level of presence, usefulness and ease of use as predictors in a structural model

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