Social presence and motivation in online environments: Second Life versus the Enocta Learning Management System/Adobe Connect

Abstract

This study aims to compare the social presence and motivation of students taking a database II course using either the virtual world Second Life (SL) or the Enocta learning management system (LMS)/Adobe Connect. The study group consisted of 60 undergraduate sophomore students enrolled in a fully online computer programming program. Students were divided into two groups of 30. The first group was the experimental group taking the course on Second Life and the latter was control group taking the course through the Enocta LMS/Adobe Connect. A matching-only pre- and post-test control group design was applied. The data were collected through the Perceived Sociability Scale of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environments (Sociability Scale) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The results of the study showed significant differences in motivation and social presence scores in favour of the students taking the course through Second Life.