Cognitive presence is defined as students’ perception of their understanding of learning content. Collecting relevant information and the effort they put into learning activities or assignments (Wang & Kang, 2006) are considered important elements for higher-order thinking and successful learning (Kanuka & Garrison, 2004). Recent studies of online learning suggest that there is a positive correlation between cognitive presence and learning outcomes.
Originally interpreted as an inherent feature of differing media, social presence may also be explored by examining a variety of issues that may contribute to the social climate of the classroom (Gunawardena, 1995). Social presence is a factor of both the medium and the communicators’ perceptions of presence in a sequence of interactions (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997) and is identified as a predicting variable for the success of CSCL (Wang & Kang). Therefore, more work needs to be done to understand how social and cultural discourses could affect individuals and their social practices. This study examines the learning process in two types of SCMC: text-based chat and video chat.
