Effects of different interaction tools used in online learning environments to the achievements and social presence perceptions of students

The overall objective of this study with which the single-factor intergroup experimental pattern was used is to introduce the effects of different interaction tools utilized in online learning environments on academic achievements and social presence perceptions of students.The research was conducted with the contributions of 27 students from the first branch and 30 students from the second branch of ?Computer II? class given in the second year of Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Education, Elementary Science Education Department in the 2008-2009 Spring term. Students regularly took part in the activities during the period of implementation. Since the students did not receive any points in the pretest conducted, random assignment was used and the first branch was determined to be the experiment group and the second branch to be the control group. To be used in the experimental process of the research, two online learning environments whose unique difference was the different interaction tools used were designed. To provide the interaction in one of the environments, `In-group Blog?, `Intergroup Blog?, and `Chat? tools were used and in the other, `Messaging?, `Forum? and `Chat? tools were utilized. For determination of the achievements of the students, data in the assessment module integrated to the learning material and the works of the students in the learning environments were used. In addition, at the end of the experimental process a posttest, which is the same with the pretest, was conducted to determine the achievements of the students. For determination of the social presence perceptions of the students, a scale of social presence perception, whose validity and reliability were proved, was used.