Towards a Theoretical Framework for the Design of Interactive Online Distance Learning Systems
Implications for System Design
Considering its predictive power in the realm of online interpersonal communication and information exchange, the hyperpersonal communication theory provides a strong framework to base the design of a distance online learning system on. This section will examine the features that need to be included in an online distance education system in order to create a hyperpersonal learning environment.
The conditions favoring the development of hyperpersonal communication outlined above, can be relatively easily incorporated in an online distance education program. As Walther (1996) has observed, asynchronous communication is a key variable in the development of hyperpersonal communication. In order to create a hyperpersonal learning environment, it thus seems most appropriate to rely on asynchronous communication tools for the main component of the system. The use of an asynchronous learning network (ALN), which allows students to learn anywhere and at any time (Bourne, McMaster, Rieger, & Cambell, 1999), may not only foster selective self-presentation strategies with all its relational consequences, but may also allow students to benefit from the results of dis-entrainment. Because students are able to learn at a time most convenient to them, they have time to focus on task and social exchanges without having to sacrifice one for the other. Research on existing ALNs shows evidence that dis-entrainment is indeed occurring in learning environments that utilize asynchronous computer-conferencing systems (Bourne et al., 1999). Bourne and colleagues' (1999) study reveals that when given the opportunity to learn anywhere at any time, students often shift their learning to the middle of the night.
As Walther (1996) has argued, groups that experience dis-entrainment are given an opportunity to engage in social conversations without having to neglect the task they are working on. By doing so, they come to know each other better and start developing interpersonal relationships. Since ALNs are capable of fostering dis-entrainment (Bourne et al., 1999), the same outcomes should be observable in groups of distance education students connected via computers. The asynchronous learning medium should thus give them ample time to nurture online relationships with other students while at the same time encouraging task discussions and the use of selective self-presentation strategies capable of enhancing already developing interpersonal relationships. In terms of Walther's theory of hyperpersonal communication, adopting an asynchronous computer conferencing system as the main component of the online learning environment directly leads to hyperpersonal channel and sender processes. While hyperpersonal channel processes are activated through the presence of dis-entrainment, sender processes come into play through selective self-presentation strategies.
In order to create an effective hyperpersonal learning environment, the asynchronous learning medium should also be limited in terms of the number and type of cues it can transmit. At first glance, this recommendation to use a limited-cues medium may seem counterintuitive, especially given the great amount of effort that is currently being put into developing CMC systems that come closer to mimicking FtF interaction. Indeed, numerous CMC researchers have focused on designing CMC systems that would make computer-mediated interaction more face-to-face-like (Donath, Karahalios, & Viegas, 1999; Herring, 1999). As Walther (1996) has argued however, this focus on making CMC more FtF like fails to see the bigger picture. Rather than trying to bring CMC up to the standards of FtF communication, research should focus on how CMC users can exploit the advantages of asynchronous CMC in order to achieve communicative and relational outcomes that are superior to those attainable through FtF interaction (Walther, 1996). According to the hyperpersonal communication framework, a learning environment that uses an asynchronous, text-only computer-conferencing system may thus yield more positive outcomes than a medium, which would allow for the transmission of additional cues.
Moreover, since the success of selective self-presentation strategies relies on the medium's ability to hide undesirable personal cues from the message recipient, a text-only medium, which preserves visual anonymity, may be most effective in creating a hyperpersonal learning environment. Research by Walther and Tidwell (2001) provides further evidence for this argument. In their study, they found that introducing visual cues through the use of a picture, may negatively affect affection and attraction levels (Walther & Tidwell, 2001). Online situations, which guarantee visual anonymity, are also more likely to foster the hyperpersonal receiver process of overattributions of similarity. Citing SIDE theory as a framework, Walther (1996) has argued that visual anonymity and physical separation in online communication will lead CMC users to perceive a greater social identity and to perceive other users to be more similar to them. This overattribution of similarity in turn powers one of the four processes involved in the development of hyperpersonal communication.
Besides this obvious advantage, using an asynchronous text-only medium in a distance education setting, may also increase the students' perception of group salience - a consequence that is most important for learning outcomes in a collaborative learning environment (Eastmond, 1995) such as the one outlined in this paper. While the interactivity of any type of computer conferencing system in and on itself increases students' group orientation (Eastmond, 1995), the added benefit of visual anonymity afforded by some conferencing systems, may act to increase this already heightened group orientation. Incorporating group assignments and group discussions into a course offered through a text-only ALN can even further increase the group salience (Chester & Gwynne, 1998).
In order to create a hyperpersonal learning environment it is also necessary that the system be designed so as convey a feeling of anticipated future interactions. As mentioned above, anticipated future interaction is a key condition of hyperpersonal communication. Walther and Tidwell (2001) use the metaphor of a dark room in an effort to explain how the expectation of future interactions affects communication partners' level of investment with the relationship. Because of the reduced cue nature of most online media, CMC may look like a dark room when compared to FtF communication. While communicators rely on visual cues in a lighted room (like FtF), they need to rely on other senses when entering a dark room such as CMC. With regard to anticipated future interaction, Walther and Tidwell (2001, p. 9) further argue that "if you sense you will be there for a while; you may even discover and appreciate textures and attributes of features you may otherwise not have noticed. If you think that you will not be there for long, you may not attempt to explore."
If an online learning environment is to encourage its students to explore the dark room, it needs to make sure that students actually anticipate long-term interactions with their fellow classmates. Several system and course features may achieve this task. First, students should be put in online groups that will remain the same throughout the semester. By keeping the group composition the same throughout the semester, students are encouraged to anticipate further interactions with the students in their group. Second, the system should incorporate a social space where students can interact with other students about non-task-related issues. Several studies on online distance education have testified to the importance and the benefits of providing such a social space (Chester & Gwynne, 1998; Muirhead, 2000; Wegerif, 1998). Knowing that there is a forum for social exchanges may increase students' anticipation of future interactions simply by reminding them that there is a social space exclusively reserved for such interactions.
Using Walther's (1996) hyperpersonal communication model as a framework for the design of a distance online learning system thus requires that the system incorporate the following features: (a) the use of an asynchronous communication medium, (b) the use of a text-only, limited-cues medium, (c) the use of strategies that enhance group salience, and (d) the use of strategies that foster the perception of anticipated future interactions between classmates. By incorporating these features into the system design, the conditions for the occurrence of hyperpersonal communication are laid. It is not enough, however, to argue that inclusion of these features will result in hyperpersonal communicative outcomes. What needs to be established as well is the theory's ability to enhance not only interpersonal communication, but also student learning and information exchange.
Possible learning outcomes of the proposed system
While all the system features discussed above are likely to activate hyperpersonal sender, receiver, channel and feedback processes which in turn may lead to hyperpersonal communication, the impact of these system features on information exchange and student learning is less clear. Part of the reason is that Walther's (1996) theory does not deal with educational outcomes and instead focuses on relational consequences. Research on CMC and distance education however provides some insight into the expected learning and information outcomes of hyperpersonal learning environments. There is evidence to suggest that learning outcomes can be positively affected by the type of hyperpersonal learning environment described above (Bourne et al., 1999; Eastmond, 1995; Jonassen, 1999; Laffey, Tupper, Musser & Wedman, 1998; Waldeck, Kearney & Plax, 2001). Considering that students in such an environment are expected to perceive a heightened group identity, students are likely to build a community of learners (Chester & Gwynne, 1998; Cole, 2000; Gordin, Gomez, Pea, & Fishman, 1996; Laffey et al., 1998) and peer-to-peer learning is likely to be positively affected (Bourne et al., 1999). In terms of a constructivist conception of learning, the collaboration among students in an online learning community, may greatly benefit individual student learning, since it is through interaction with other learners that constructivists believe that knowledge is formed. Indeed, a constructivist conception assumes that "knowledge is individually constructed and socially co-constructed by learners based on their interpretations of experiences in the world" (Jonassen, 1999, p. 217). Since the hyperpersonal framework predicts social relationships between CMC users to develop if the conditions of hyperpersonal communication are met, the learning environment discussed above can be expected to foster the development of both social relationships and online communities and should therefore reap the benefits of peer-to-peer learning.
Moreover, research suggests that the affordances for selective self-presentation provided by the asynchronous medium can be used by teachers to increase student learning (Waldeck, et al., 2001). Waldeck and colleagues' (2001) research suggests that students are more likely to engage in online interactions with teachers who come across as highly immediate. In other words, teachers' success at presenting themselves as more immediate in online messages influences students' likelihood to communicate with them. As Waldeck and colleagues argue, immediate electronic communication between teachers and students should lead to positive outcomes such as student learning. By providing teachers with a medium that facilitates selective self-presentations strategies, including strategies aimed at increasing their perceived level of immediacy, the hyperpersonal learning environment described above thus contributes to student learning.
The social relationships formed through computer-conferencing not only influence student learning (Eastmond, 1995), but also information exchange. According to Walther and Boyd (unpublished manuscript), asynchrony benefits the provision of information support by allowing time to look up a response to a question and to craft a good response. Since asynchronous media do not disclose how long it took a respondent to look up the information to a question, respondents may take more time to do so. As a result, the quality of the information exchanged is likely to be increased, and interpersonal perceptions regarding the respondents are positively affected (Walther & Boyd, unpublished manuscript). Research further suggests that the lack of pressure for an immediate response in asynchronous communication networks, also increases student reflection (Wegerif, 1998). Indeed, Wegerif (1998) has argued that asynchrony helps to trigger a different, more creative type of thought besides the "the quick response of the conscious surface of the mind" (p. 8), which characterizes synchronous interactions. Rather than privileging students with quicker thought processes, the asynchronous medium allows the "slow and reflective learner" to contribute just as well as "the quicker and more extroverted student," and thereby fosters an enhanced dialogue capable of affecting learning outcomes (Moore, 1991, p. 6). By giving CMC users more time to reflect on issues raised during discussions, or to think about questions posted to the group, asynchronous communication media enhance participation rates as well as the quality of the information exchanged.
Participation is not only increased through the lack of pressure for an immediate response though. Factors related to dis-entrainment likewise influence participation rates in asynchronous learning environments. Free to learn anywhere and independently of other students' schedules, students create more time for both task-related and social information exchange. In a situation like this, dis-entrainment can be expected to result in increased levels of information-exchange between distance education students. Information-exchange is furthermore enhanced by the fact that in an asynchronous computer conferencing system, questions as well as answers to questions can be seen by the entire class. Unlike traditional classroom settings in which teacher answers to student questions are usually only shared between the teacher and the student who asked the question, teacher answers can be seen by all learners in an ALN. By making the same information available to every student, asynchronous networks again influence the quality of information-exchange.