with higher levels of social presence in discussion postshad statistically significantly higher ratings on written assessmentmeasures. Both of the studies demonstrate that increased socialpresence gives students a stronger sense of community and is ef-fective for improving student learning

Instructors in online classes must take extra measures toestablish a social presence for themselves and for their students.These efforts not only increase student satisfaction with onlinecourses, but result in increased learning outcomes. Picciano (2002)found that students with higher levels of social presence performedbetter on written assignments compared to students with lowersocial presence