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Increasingsocialpresenceofsocialactorsine-learningenvironments:EectsofdynamicandstaticemoticonsonchildrenFang-WuTung*,Yi-ShinDengInstituteofAppliedArts,NationalChiaoTungUniversity,1001Ta-HsuehRoad,HsinChu,TaiwanReceived19June2006;receivedinrevisedform24April2007;accepted21June2007Availableonline27June2007AbstractThepresentresearchaimedtoemploydynamicandstaticemotionsassocialcuesine-learningenvironmentsforcomputerstobeabletoconveysocialpresenceandincreasechildren'smotivationwithlearning.
Tounderstandhowchildrenofdierentgenderreacttothetwotypesofemoticonine-learningenvironment,amathproblem-solvingpracticeprogramwasdesignedtotesttheirreactions.
Theprogramfeaturestwotreatments,dynamicemoticonsandstaticemoticons.
A2·2(emoticonstyle·gender)between-subjectsfactorialdesignwasadoptedforthisstudy.
Onehundredseventy-threesixthgradersparticipatedinthisstudy.
Datawerecollectedviaquestion-naireregardingtheperceivedsocialpresenceandchildren'sintrinsicmotivation,andthenanalyzedbymeansoftwo-wayANOVA.
Theresultsshowthatthechildrenindynamic-emoticonconditionperceivedahigherdegreeofsocialpresenceandreportedgreaterintrinsicmotivationthanthoseinstatic-emoticoncondition.
Thefeelingsofsocialpresencecreatedbythecomputeritselfcanmediatechildren'sintrinsicmotivation.
Besides,nogenderdierencesinchildren'sattitudestowardcomputerswereobserved.
Itsuggeststhattheuseofdynamicemoticonsassocialcuesincorporatingine-learningenvironmentscanenablechildrentoperceivecomputersonsocialdimen-sionandleadtoincreasetheirmotivationwithlearning.
2007ElsevierB.
V.
Allrightsreserved.
Keywords:Emoticon;Dynamics;Socialpresence;Children;e-Learningenvironment1.
IntroductionComputersarenowwidelyusedtoassistschoolchil-dreninlearningandprovidestudentswithpracticesofparticularskills.
Thefocusinthedesignofcomputersforchildren'slearningisdierentfromthoseforadults.
Inadditiontoissuesofusability,theformerneedstoimproveengagementandmotivationforyoungerusers[1,2].
Studieshavesuggestedthattheenhancingsocialpresenceinane-learningenvironmentcaninstillthelear-nerwithanimpressionofaqualitylearningexperience.
Onebenetistoinduceandsustainthelearners'motiva-tion[3,4].
Thisresearchhasmostlyfocusedontheenhancementofsocialpresencetocreateasuccessfullearningexperienceinsituationsinvolvinglearnersandinstructorsinonlineenvironments.
AccordingtoAragon[5],thesocialconnectionisimportantinanonlineenvi-ronmentduetotheisolatednatureoftheinstructionalset-tings.
However,littleresearchhasbeendoneonthepossibilitythatalearnercouldperceivesocialpresencefromthecomputeritselfviasuitablecomputerinterfacedesign.
Suchaperceptionmayreducealearner'sfeelingofisolationwhileinteractingwithanon-humancom-puter-mediatedlearningenvironmentandleadtotheattainmentoftheinstructionalgoal.
Socialpresenceisdenedas''thedegreeofawarenessofanotherpersoninaninteractionandtheconsequentappreciationofaninterpersonalrelationship''[6].
Socialpresenceinacomputer-mediatedcommunicationenviron-mentreferstotheuser'sdegreeoffeeling,perception,orreactionbeingconnectedtoanotherintellectualentity,whichinvolvesasubjectivequalityofthecommunication0141-9382/$-seefrontmatter2007ElsevierB.
V.
Allrightsreserved.
doi:10.
1016/j.
displa.
2007.
06.
005*Correspondingauthor.
Tel.
:+88635560177;fax:+88635712332.
E-mailaddresses:fwtung@gmail.
com(F.
-W.
Tung),ydest@faculty.
nctu.
edu.
tw(Y.
-S.
Deng).
www.
elsevier.
com/locate/displaAvailableonlineatwww.
sciencedirect.
comDisplays28(2007)174–180mediumrelatedtotheconceptsofintimacyandimmediacy[7,8].
Inotherwords,amediumwhichprovidespeoplewithintimateorimmediateresponsesmayevoketheirsocialemotionalreactions.
Suchexperiencescouldallowanindi-vidualtoperceivethatanothersocialbeingexistsandisinteractingwiththem.
Thepossibilitythatsocialpresencecanalsobecreatedthroughthecomputeritselfhastheoret-icalandpracticalimplications[9].
Computerscouldbeper-ceivedasasocialactortoimproveinvolvementandmotivationwhileasinglelearnerparticipatesincomputerlearningactivitywithnoinstructorinvolved.
Thispaperfocusesonthesocialpresenceandspecicallythedimen-sionofpresenceinwhichpeopleperceivemediatechnologyassocialactors.
ThemoststudiestypeofsocialpresenceisrepresentedbyCASA(ComputersAreSocialActors)research[10].
CASAisidentiedbyLombardandDitton[11]asaconceptualizationofpresence.
Itinvolvessocialresponsesofpeoplenottootherentitieswithinamedium,buttocuesprovidedbythemediumitself.
CASAstudieshaveshownthatifcomputersexhibitsocialcues,peoplewilltreatthecomputersassocialactorsratherthanasinani-matetools.
Severalempiricalstudieshavedemonstratedthatpeopledonotrespondtoacomputermerelyasatool;instead,individualsbringtobearawiderangeofsocialrulesandbehaviorsthatchangetheirinteractionswithandattitudestowardscomputers[12].
Findingsfromthosestudiesshowthatpeopletendtofeelthatcomputersarefriendlier,moreattractive,andmorehelpfuliftheyexhibitsocialcuessuchasteammatelabel,praise,andactivehelpincontrolledinteraction[13–15].
Theseexam-pleshaverevealedthatpeople'sattitudescanbeinu-encedbysocialattributesofcomputersandtheirsocialresponsecanfacilitateamoreintimatehuman-to-com-puterinteraction.
Thisinturnimprovestheusers'atti-tudestowardscomputersandmotivatesthemtointeractwithcomputers.
TheCASAparadigmshowsapotentialstrategyforinterfacedesigntoimprovemotivationinacomputer-mediatedlearningenvironment[16,17].
Theparadigmseekstointroducesocialcuesinuserinterfacedesignbyreplicatinghuman-to-humaninteractioninthecontextofhuman-to-computerinteraction.
Thus,thisstudyattemptedtoextendtheconceptofCASAbyemployingemoticonsassocialcuesinane-learningenvironmentforchildren.
Emoticonsweredenedassymbolscom-posedofpunctuationmarksdesignedtoexpresssomeformsofemotionintheformofahumanface[18].
Withincreasingfrequencyofemoticonusage,recentdevelop-mentsincomputermediatedcommunicationmakeemot-iconsgraphicbased,goingfarbeyondthecompositionofpunctuationmarks.
Indeed,theface,themostimportantchannelofemotionalexpression,playsasignicantroleinsocialcommunication[19].
Ekman[20]statedthatpeo-plehavetheperceptiveabilitytorecognizeemotionfromfacialexpression,thus,visualcuesinvolvingfacesarecon-sideredtobethemostinuential[21].
Thesymbolsoffacialexpressionshavebeenappliedinhuman–computerinterfaceasthewayofcommunication.
TheearlierversionsofmackintoshoperatingsystemhadusedfacialiconsofhappyMacandsadMac,representingthecomputertoaltertheuseofitsstate.
Theiconspromptcomputerstobeuser-friendlyandaccessible.
AccordingtoTakeuchiandNagao[22],presentinghumanfacesinasys-temhelpsincreaseasuccessfulhuman–computercommu-nication.
ThompsonandFoulger[23]suggestthatemoticonscanreduceperceptionsofaminginelectronicmailbyleadingareceivertoviewthemessageaslessthreatening.
AsindicatedbyRezabekandCochenour[24],CMC(computer-mediatedcommunication)usersoftenuseemoticonsasvisualcuestoexpandthemeaningoftextualelectronicmessages.
Concludedfromthosestud-ies,emoticonscanprovideadditionalsocialcuesbeyondwhatisfoundintext,whichmayenhancetheexchangeofsocialinformationandcreatepleasantinteractiveexpe-riencesforpeople.
Mostresearchonpeople'sattitudestoemoticonsisconductedbyusingstaticfacialiconsasstimuli;how-ever,thefacialexpressionofemotionisadynamicphe-nomenonwhileastaticemotionisanunnaturalrepresentation.
EkmanandFriesen[25]havepointedoutthatemotionmessagesaretransmittedbyrapidsig-nals,insteadofstaticones,whichcausechangesinfacialexpressions.
Rapidsignalsmeancontractionoffacialmusclesandthevisiblechangesintheappearanceofthefacewhenthesefeelingsoccur.
Thedynamicdis-playoffacialexpressionsprovidesuniquetemporalinformationabouttheexpressionsthatisnotavailableinstaticdisplays[26].
Althoughdynamiccharacteristicsoffacialexpressionaremostlyoverlooked,afewstudiesexamineitseectontheintensityofemotionalexpres-sionsandsuggestthatdynamiccharacteristicsoffacialofemotionarenecessaryforfullextractionofemotionalinformationfromfaces[27–29].
Inthelightofthat,thedynamicsisimportantinfacilitatingtheperceptionoffacialexpressions.
Thepresentpaperarguedthattheuseofdynamicemoticonsine-learningenvironmentscanenrichthesenseofsociabilitymoreeectivelythantheuseofstaticemoticons.
Thisareadeservetobeexploredfurther,astheauthorshopetoemployemoticonsassocialcuesine-learningenviron-mentsforchildrentohavebettercomputerexperiencesandmotivation.
Accordingly,anexperimentwascon-ductedtotesttheeectsofdynamicsofemoticonine-learningenvironmentsonchildren'sattitudetowardscomputers,especiallyininvestigatingthefollowingquestions:(1)ifthereisasignicantdierenceinthesocialpresenceperceivedbychildrenbetweenemployingdynamicandstaticemoticonsine-learningenvironment;(2)ifthedynamicdisplayofemoticonshasanimpactonincreasingchildren'sintrinsicmotivationwithcom-puterizedlearning,(3)andifthereisacorrelationbetweenchildren'sintrinsicmotivationandtheper-ceivedsocialpresence.
F.
-W.
Tung,Y.
-S.
Deng/Displays28(2007)174–1801752.
HypothesesH1:Childreninthedynamic-emoticonconditionper-ceivestrongersocialpresencethanthoseinthesta-tic-emoticoncondition.
H2:Childrenparticipatinginthee-learningenviron-mentwithdynamicemoticonsaremoreintrinsi-callymotivatedthanthoseinthee-learningenvironmentofstaticemoticons.
H3:Thereisacorrelationbetweenthedistinguishedsocialpresenceandchildren'sintrinsicmotivationtowardlearning.
RQ1:Doesgenderinuencesubjects'reactiontoemot-iconsaspredictedinH1–H33.
MethodA2·2(emoticonstyle·gender)between-subjectsdesignwasusedintheresearch.
Thedependentvariablesweretheperceivedsocialpresenceandintrinsicmotivation.
3.
1.
SubjectsOnehundredseventy-threesixthgraders(82girlsand91boys)fromsixclassesoftwoelementaryschoolsinthenorth-westernregionofTaiwanparticipated.
Theaverageagewas11.
6years.
Allsubjectshaveexperiencedusingcomputersandhavereceivedcomputerinstructionatleastonceaweeksincethirdgrade.
Atotalof82%ofthesub-jectsreportedthattheyoftenusedcomputersathomeforplayinggamesandwebbrowsing.
Theseguressuggestthatthesubjectsarefamiliarwithcomputers.
3.
2.
MaterialsTheinstructionalmaterialwaspreparedasamathprob-lem-solvingpracticeprogramdesignedinMacromediaFlash.
Theinstructionalprogramhadtenmathproblemsthatwereequivalentto6thgrader'slevelofability.
Thedegreeofdicultyofthequestionswasdiscussedwithteachersoftheselectedschools.
Theinstructionalprogramwascontrolledbyusingamouseandtheanswerwasinput-tedbythenumericbuttonsofthekeyboard.
Thefeedbacksprovidedbytheprogramincludedatext-basedgreetingatthebeginning,asymbol''right''asfeedbackwhenasub-ject'sanswerswascorrect,orasymbol''wrong''andames-sagewhichsuggestedthesubjecttopress''again''or''next''iconforproceedingwhenheorshefailedtoanswercor-rectly,andthenalcountsofcorrectanswersandpositivecomments.
Twodierentprogramversionsweredevelopedtopresenteitherdynamicorstaticemoticonsbyprovidingtwokindsofemoticonsetsintheabove-mentionedfeedbacks.
Thereweretwoprocessesinchoosingemoticons.
First,twoelementaryteachersandtwosixthgradersformedafocusgroup.
Theydiscussedthesuitableemotionalfacialexpressionsforthosefeedbacksprovidedbytheinstruc-tionalprogram.
Accordingtotheresultsoffocusgroupdiscussionsseveralemoticonsweredesignedtoshowthestatesofemotioninthosefeedbacksandfourdierentemoticonsweredevelopedforeachfeedback.
Next,aclassofsixthgraderswasgivenquestionnaires.
Theinstructionalprogramwasdemonstratedtothem.
Theyweresubse-quentlyaskedtocompleteaquestionnaireinwhichtheychoseanemoticonfromoptionsthatbestsuitedeachfeed-backoftheprogram.
Theemoticonswiththehighestfre-quencyinfeedbacksoftheinstructionalprogramareillustratedinTable1.
Thedierencebetweenthetwoversionsoftheinstruc-tionalprogramwasthatthestatic-emoticonversionpre-sentedstillemoticonsduringthewholefeedbacktimewhilethedynamic-emoticonversionpresentedadynamicdisplayofemoticonsstartingwithaneutralfacialsymbol(therstemoticoninFig.
1)developingintothestaticemo-ticonofthecorrespondingfeedback(therightmostemoti-coninFig.
1).
Fig.
1illustratesthevisiblechangeofeyes,eyebrows,andmouthduringthetransitionfromaneutralemoticontoahappyemoticon.
Themotionspeedofthedynamicdisplayis12framespersecond.
3.
3.
MeasurementtoolThedependentvariablesofsocialpresenceandintrinsicmotivationweremeasuredusingasetofpaper-and-pencilquestionnaires.
Thewordingusedinquestionnaireshadbeendiscussedwithteachersandthechildrentopreventanymisunderstanding.
Inaddition,theexperimenterexplainedthesewordsindetailandclariedanypointschildrendidnotunderstand.
Asforthesemanticdieren-tialtechniqueusedintherstquestionnaire,theresearcherdemonstratedhowtocompletetherstsetquestionsbygivingthreeexamplesincludingawell-knowncharacter,toy,andcomputergame.
TherstsetquestionsadoptedthefouritemsproposedbyShort,Williams,andChristie[30]tomeasuresocialpresence,sociable/unsociable,personal/impersonal,sensi-tive/insensitive,andwarm/cold,andappliedasemanticdierentialtechnique.
Thesemanticdierentialtechniquewasusedwithbipolarve-pointscales.
Theindexwasreli-able(Cronbach'sa=0.
85).
Thesecondsetquestionsusedanadaptedversionoftheactivity-feelingscales(AFS)developedbyReeveandSick-eniuns[31]tomeasurethesubjects'intrinsicmotivation.
Theindexdevelopedwasa12-itemmeasuretoevaluateachildself-determination,competence,relatedness,andten-sion.
Thenameandindividualitemsareasfollows:self-determination–oeredchoicewhattodo,Iwanttodothis,andmyparticipationisvoluntary;competence–capa-ble,competent,andachieving;relatedness–involvedwithfriends,partofateam,andbrotherly/sisterly;tension–pressured,stressed,anduptight.
Thescalewasassessedona9-pointLikertscalerangingfrom1(verystronglydis-agree)to9(verystronglyagree).
Theindexwasreliable(Cronbach'sa=0.
80).
176F.
-W.
Tung,Y.
-S.
Deng/Displays28(2007)174–1803.
4.
ProcedureThestudytookplaceinthecomputerlabsofthetwoselectedschoolsduringoneoftheircomputerclassses-sions.
Eachcomputerwasseparatedbysomedistancefromoneanothertopreventmutualinterference.
Eachstudentwasassignedtoonenumberedcomputerinthelab.
ThelabelednumbersmatchedtheirschoolnumbersandtheTable1EmoticonsinfeedbacksoftheinstructionalprogramFeedbackDisplayofscreenEmoticonsGreetingatthebeginningFeedbackforacorrectanswerFeedbackforawronganswerPromptforthenextstepFeedbackattheendF.
-W.
Tung,Y.
-S.
Deng/Displays28(2007)174–180177orderstartedwithboysthenfollowedbygirls.
Thetwover-sionsofprogramswererandomlyandequallyinstalledonthosecomputersforboysandgirls.
Therefore,allsubjectswererandomlyassignedtooneofthetwoconditions,withgenderbalancedacrosstheconditions.
Theoutcomeoftheassignmentwasthat86children(40girls/46boys)wereassignedtothestatic-emoticonconditionwhile87children(42girls/45boys)wereassignedtothedynamic-emoticoncondition.
Allsubjectswereinformedthroughtheopeningintroductionwhichencouragedthemtoparticipateinthemathpracticegameandtheywererequestedtolloutthequestionnairesaccordingtotheirexperienceaftern-ishingthepractice.
Uponcompletingtheexperiment,thesubjectsweredebriefedandthankedwithtoys.
4.
ResultsOnaverage,thesubjectsmade6.
5(SD=2.
8)correctanswersin30minoutof10mathquestions.
Theaveragewronganswerwas8.
7(SD=4.
9)whilere-testwronganswerswere5.
3(SD=3.
1).
Thisshowsthatthesubjectshadgenerallyalreadyexperiencedthevariousdesignedfeedbackfromthelearningmaterialsintheeducationalactivity.
Resultsofthestudyareexplainedasfollows.
4.
1.
SocialpresenceThemeanofperceivedsocialpresenceforsubjectsinadynamic-emoticoncondition(M=7.
70,SD=2.
01)washigherthanthoseinstatic-emoticoncondition(M=6.
98,SD=2.
31).
Andgirlsgradedsocialpresence(M=7.
59,SD=2.
00)higherthanboysdid(M=7.
11,SD=2.
33).
Atwo-waybetween-subjectsANOVArevealstherewasastatisticallysignicantmaineectforemoticonstyle,F(1,169)=4.
58,p.
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