What is Social Presence?

According to Menezes (2014), Social Presence is how people perceive their own presence and the presence of others in a virtual interaction and the willingness to build an interpersonal relationship in order to learn collaboratively.

To me, Social Presence depends a lot on how participants choose to take part in an online course. Of course, it also depends on the opportunities of interaction provided during the course.

Let's compare two students:

Student A studies alone. He uses books and the internet to build knowledge.

Student B is taking a course with other students. Besides learning via the material suggested by his teacher, he likes exchanging ideas and discussing about what he's been learning with his classmates.

In the virtual world we can have a similar situation. We can choose to act like Student A, focussing on developing tasks on our own or we can behave like Student B making use of the opportunity to work with the group exchanging ideas and making connections.

We should bear in mind three kinds of course content we can learn from:
- The content proposed by the teacher.
- The content suggested by participants.
- The content built by participants during the course.

When we study alone during an online course, we might be missing the opportunity to learn more with one another.

Here are few tips on how to develop your presence during online courses:

REFERENCE:

MENEZES, A. M. C. A vivência da presença social: histórias de um curso online para professores de Inglês. (2014) M.A. Thesis. 186 p. Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. http://goo.gl/kNyAck

This Life: A Novel

Amazon Freebie ;)
Reality just got a bit too real for this queen of an empire…. Blake is living a life that most women could only dream about. She’s beautiful, brilliant, fierce, and doesn’t know how to quit. She’s built an empire, made millions, and fought her demons. When she’s invited to host The Takeover, a new reality show, she’s quick to take on the challenge. The show is an instant success…and Blake’s life becomes an instant mess. Blake’s new celebrity status comes with a catch; notoriety. That notoriety uncovers secrets that Blake would have rather kept buried. The worst is her ex-husband Lang, a jealous, obsessed man intent on destroying everything Blake has built for herself. Blake’s success and money become her weaknesses, leaving her with very few people to trust. This only gets worse living in the public eye. Lang uses Blake’s celebrity and feelings of isolation against her as he enlists the help of people from Blake’s past to ruin her. Unfortunately for Lang, Blake didn’t get where she is by backing down from a fight. When Brett, Blake’s ex-flame appears, she finds herself hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Their complicated history soon has her life spinning out of control. As Blake struggles with the chaos, and the feeling that she can’t trust anyone, she starts to wonder if the life she has is even worth the fight. When Lang’s schemes escalate, Blake finds herself on the edge of losing everything… 226 pages

Molly’s First Golden Year

Free on Amazon today ;) 

Should a widow in her early sixties slip gracefully into the twilight years and forget about any needs south of her elastic waistband? Molly Stark doesn’t think so. Neither does her friend, Liz, whose titillating conversations have caused her husband to stop using speakerphone at work. Molly’s adventures include a beau bearing a dozen eggs, a date whose idea of wine and dine is a shake and burger and several Internet hopefuls, whose suggested activities make her blush. Things look up when Molly meets Gil, her son’s soon to be father-in-law, in town for the wedding of his and Molly’s gay sons. Then there’s the sexy mysterious younger man on a motorcycle, Hoot, who claims he fell for Molly the moment he saw her fondle a cucumber at the local grocery store. What does he see in her? 
Is she brave enough to find out? 221 pages and I think it's going to make me laugh my pants out lots of times! Worth a try!

How to learn a new language

By Krystian Aparta

They say that children learn languages the best. But that doesn’t mean that adults should give up. We asked some of the polyglots in TED’s Open Translation Project to share their secrets to mastering a foreign language. Their best strategies distil into seven basic principles:

1. Get real. Decide on a simple, attainable goal to start with so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. German translator Judith Matz suggests: “Pick up 50 words of a language and start using them on people — and then slowly start picking up grammar.”
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2. Make language-learning a lifestyle change. Elisabeth Buffard, who in her 27 years of teaching English has always seen consistency as what separates the most successful students from the rest. Find a language habit that you can follow even when you’re tired, sick or madly in love.
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3. Play house with the language. The more you invite a foreign language into your daily life, the more your brain will consider it something useful and worth caring about. “Use every opportunity to get exposed to the new language,” says Russian translator Olga Dmitrochenkova. Label every object in your house in this language, read kids’ books written in it, watch subtitled TED and TEDx talks, or live-narrate parts of your day to an imaginary foreign friend.
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4. Let technology help you out. Dmitrochenkova has a great idea: “A funny thing, like resetting the language on your phone can help you learn new words right away,” she says. Ditto for changing the language on your browser. Or you can seek out more structured learning opportunities online. Dutch translator Els De Keyser recommends Duolinguo for its gamified approach to grammar and Anki for memorizing vocabulary with its “intelligent” flashcards.
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5. Think about language-learning as a gateway to new experiences. To Spanish translator Sebastián Betti, learning a language has always been about focusing on the experiences that the new language would open up, from “visiting theme parks, attending air shows, enjoying cowboy poetry and folk-rock festivals, to learning about photo-essay techniques.” In other words, he thinks of fun things that he wanted to do anyway and makes them into a language-learning opportunity. Many of our translators shared this advice. Italian and French translator Anna Minoli learned English by watching undubbed versions of her favorite movies, while Croatian translator Ivan Stamenković suddenly realized he could speak English in fifth grade, after years of watching the Cartoon Network without subtitles. So the next time you need a vegan carrot cake recipe, find one in the language you’re trying to learn.
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6. Make new friends. Interacting in the new language is key — it will teach you to intuitively express your thoughts, instead of mentally translating each sentence before you say it. Find native speakers near you. Or search for foreign penpals or set up a language tandem online, where two volunteers help one another practice their respective languages.
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7. Do not worry about making mistakes. One of the most common barriers to conversing in a new language is the fear of making mistakes. But native speakers are like doting parents: any attempt from you to communicate in their language is objective proof that you are a gifted genius. They’ll appreciate your effort and even help you. Nervous about holding a conversation with a peer? Try testing your language skills with someone a little younger. “I was stoked when I was chatting with an Italian toddler and realized we had the same level of Italian,” recalls German translator Judith Matz. And be patient. The more you speak, the closer you’ll get to the elusive ideal of “native-like fluency.” And to talking to people your own age.

All For Anna (Letting Go Book 1)

Also free on Amazon today :D

Let's see, after all it has my name on it it MUST be good!

If guilt is a prison; Victoria Sales has given herself a life sentence. Held captive by regret, 23 year-old trauma RN, Tori Sales, has seen the reality of many nightmares. But there is one nightmare she will never wake from—her last memory of Anna. Her efforts to save the little girl were not enough; she was not enough. After a year of living alone, Tori is forced to return home—a place where heartache, loss, and broken relationships lurk around every corner. Isolation is her only solace; running is her only escape. But she cannot outrun the truth forever. When a handsome, compassionate stranger enters her world, Tori is inspired to deal with her past and focus on the future—one she never believed possible. But before her quest for closure is complete, a new revelation surfaces, tainting her world yet again. Will she accept the recovery she so desperately needs? Or will she choose the escape she knows best… 289 pages

Life Blood: Cora’s Choice Billionaire Vampire Series #1

Interesting...... (and free for today on Amazon)

Introducing a world in which vampires are born, not made… She wanted life. He needed her blood. Cora Shaw will do anything to live. Diagnosed with terminal cancer in her senior year of college, she is given a choice: Call hospice, or seek out a mysterious man who promises an impossible–and insanely dangerous–cure. She knows him only as Mr. Thorne, a reclusive billionaire who seems full of contradictions. A man with strange, impossible powers over her. A man, she discovers, who is not a man at all. 119 pages

25 Ways You Know You’re a Stay at Home Mom

Been there, done that, liked it for a while, drove me crazy later!!! Remember there is always YOU somewhere and you should take care of yourself! 

1. At least half of your meals consist of your child’s leftovers.

2. When your husband asks, “what did you do today?” you can’t muster up a single thing to report, despite feeling like you’ve been put through the spin cycle of the washing machine.

3. Your kids ask where you are going when you put on jeans.

4. You can clean your entire house with a package of baby wipes.

5. A “night out” is roaming the aisles at Target alone.

6. The TV has been on all day, but you have no idea what’s happening in world news.

7.  Showering is a major accomplishment.

8. Your kids see you naked more often than your husband.

9. You actually know what the fox says, or what it could say at least, because 50% of your time is spent making animal sounds. 

10. Your mood depends solely on the length of time your child napped for. 

11. Putting a bra on means someone special is coming over.

12. On the way out the door, You look down at your kids crusty food on your shirt and think to yourself, eh, it’s not that bad. Or worse, you pick it off and actually taste it.

13. You fake stomach problems once your husband gets home, just so you can be alone in your own bathroom.

14. Your dog barks when you put “real” shoes on.

15. You have invited Jehovahs Witnesses in on more than one occasion, and scared them off after asking if they’d like a dirty martini.

16. You have to check the weather outside before you head out because you have no idea how cold or warm it is because you haven’t been out in days.

17. You consider going on Facebook “spending time with your friends.”

18. You’ve been wearing the same outfit for a couple days in a row…and you’re not sure exactly how many “a couple” means.

19. You’ve contemplated performing your own hysterectomy while preparing dinner… more than once.

20. Your vacuum cleaner is a permanent fixture in [insert the busiest room in the house] and hasn’t been unplugged for three months.

21. You have no idea what the date or day of the week is, but you can tell what time it is just by what cartoon is on TV.

22. It’s only 9AM and you’ve thought “I need a drink.”

23. You’re nursing an infant on the toilet while simultaneously scheduling a doctor’s visit.

24. The cup of coffee you are drinking at lunch is the cup you made at 5:30am, just reheated for the 100th time.

25. You don’t want to go to bed at night because the silence is just too beautiful, no matter how tired you are.

by www.scarymommy.com

HAPPILY EVER BEFORE

Amazon freebie :D and very interesting....

buy on Amazon 

Two sisters, one drunken pact and a choice that changes their lives forever. HAPPILY EVER BEFORE is best described as the comedic literary love child of the hit film’s Bridesmaids and Baby Mama. It is the story of two sisters, who while watching a Lifetime movie marathon (of course!) make a drunken pact that has more unconventional consequences than anything Lifetime could program. HAPPILY EVER BEFORE, a fractured fairytale, tells the story of Grace, the free spirit older sister, who promises Clair, her wound-too-tight younger sister, that she’d have her baby, should the need ever arise. But she certainly never thought she’d have to “deliver”. Now everyone, from Clair’s WASP-y in-laws to Diane, Grace and Clair’s mom, who has put her own life on hold, to Clair’s husband, Henry, who has a compulsive need to give Grace bizarre and overly personal pregnancy gifts, to George, Grace’s best friend who now needs to find a new drinking buddy, are dealing with situations they never dreamed of. As the sisters are faced with hormonal surges, new romances, and a calcium enriched diet, they are forced to navigate this new family dynamic and test their sisterly love in ways that keep the reader laughing out loud. 305 pages

A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Book 1)

Amazon freebie :D

buy on Amazon 

Jessica Huntington, rich, beautiful, and smart, seeks refuge from betrayal in a desert paradise near Palm Springs only to discover life is full of surprises…like a dead husband. Jessica Huntington is hiding out from her own well-planned life, now in shambles. Her law career tanked by the Great Recession, she failed miserably as a desperate housewife in the Silicon Valley playing beat-the-clock with her 30-something hormones. In the end she put on a little baby fat, but no baby. The final blow: walking in on her husband in bed with a well-known Hollywood blond. The Rancho Mirage home where she grew up, surrounded by the beauty of the desert resort town near Palm Springs, seems the perfect place to take refuge. That is until her best friend’s husband is murdered. Jessica and her friends are soon thrust into the fray stalked by scoundrels in pantyhose, stilettos, Bruno Magli shoes, and Armani suits. Roger Stone had something that got him killed. What was it and to what lengths will they go to get it back? 301 pages

6 Things Every Mom Should Do in 2015

Focus on you. I know, it's hard. The baby is sick, and the toddler is tired, and the husband got a new job so he's exhausted and cranky and hungry the exact moment he walks in the door. And your boss is all over your back, and your mother-in-law is moving in, and everyone needs your every-single-thing that you have in you. I know. Been there. Will be there again. It's motherhood and we all know the struggle of the struggle. But, struggle makes you strong; strong makes you capable; being capable means that you can insist. I insist you insist.  You owe it to your sick baby, and your tired toddler, and your hungry husband, and his needy mama, and to you.

Say no. And also, yes. I want to help my friends. I want to do what I can for those in need. I want to serve the community. I want to save the day, because I'm super. But, only I'm not. And, deep down, I know that. And, I need to make sure everyone else knows that too. But, saying 'no' is one of those things I have always found difficult. Except for when it comes to my children—somehow they are well aware of my ability to say 'no.' Because they get to experience it way more often than anyone else on the planet. Explore the awesome of 'yes' where the little ones are concerned. If you free up some time by saying 'no' to other people, saying 'yes' to those teeny people who matter might not be all that hard.

Choose joy. It's not one of those things that just happens. You have to make it happen. So challenge the principal to a dance off in the hallway at school. Er, no, I mean, work hard at being joyful. And join the Happy Mama Movement for some ideas and inspiration on getting there and staying there.

Press pause. The term 'on-the-go mom' has always been so silly to me... Is there a such thing as a mom that's not on the go like, basically, always? I can barely take a beat to sleep. But, we need moments to pause and reflect, to recharge and refocus, to empty our brains of the chaos so that it can start making human choices again. Plus, it gives you time to appreciate the beautiful things around you. When I'm speeding through life there are just so many things I overlook and forget. Things that I gloss over and don't have time to really tuck away in my brain for later when I'm laying around my nursing home in need of something joyful other than old Ryan Gosling pics to clutch on to.

Dream a little. I don't know about you, but my dreams are either nonexistent or entirely functional: a new fridge, a new dishwasher, a new stovetop. Take time to dream about things that you want and not just things you need. Then, maybe during one of those pauses you have planned, you can think about making some of them come true.

Be brave. I'm not saying you need to slay a dragon or finally serve that chick from the PTA the backhand she ordered, but kick the fear that's holding you back from your awesome. It feels so good when you step out of your sweats-zone (which is my version of the comfort zone) and do something that makes you feel powerful. Also, your children will have their little mommy-is-just-mommy minds b-a-lown. I like blowing minds. Especially those of little faith. So, let this be the year you blow some minds. Take a first step, start something new, chop off your hair, lose 15 pounds, go to Zumba and dance, dance I say. (I will NOT be chopping off my hair, because I do NOT want a mini afro, all of the other bits are on my calendar though).

This post originally appeared on Dude Mom.

Dude Mom is a humor-lifestyle blog written by the best mom in the world. In her free time she enjoys losing weight easily, looking like a soap star the moment she rolls out of bed, and riding around town on her unicorn. Also, she may be slightly delusional.