Theresa Pesl Murphrey

Expressions of Social Presence in Agricultural Conversations on Twitter: Implications for Agricultural Communications

Computer-mediated environments such as social media create new social climates that impact communication interactions in un-mediated environments. As computer-mediated communication (CMC) stimulates more social communities, many communication behaviors will evolve and adapt to the unique social environment created by CMC. This study examined social variables during two different synchronous conversations on Twitter through a qualitative document analysis that coded messages into affective, interactive, and cohesive categories. Categories were determined by indicators within each message such as emoticons, direct responses, and the use of individuals’ names. The researcher concluded that most social variables in the Twitter conversations fit into the interactive social presence category but that affective and cohesive responses supported personal connection and structure within the conversations. It was also found that the same category of responses could function differently in each conversation. However, both conversations in this study appeared to be successful. Therefore, agricultural communicators should feel comfortable using CMC that contains social presence dimensions to circulate agricultural information among populations across the globe. Additional research should be conducted to examine social presence among new topics, populations, and other forms of CMC.

Chalkboards to Virtual Environments: Technology's Role in Expanding the Classroom to Provide Professional Development and Education for Agricultural Communicators

Agricultural communications education has evolved over time, shifting in an effort to meet the needs of students through new approaches, new methods, and new technologies. The purpose of this paper was to examine the influence of educational and communications technologies on agricultural communications education. A literature review related to the history of the processes, methods, and technology uses in education and more specifically in agricultural communications education was conducted. Technology was identified as enhancing learning in settings that included secondary education, university settings, continuing education, Extension programming, and professional development. Only a limited number of articles specifically addressed the use of technology to teach agricultural communications. The high rate of change in communication technologies was identified as a critical reason for considering the role of technology in the agricultural communications education context. A virtual environment to teach crisis communications was shared as an example of successful educational technology use. Continued research focusing on teaching methods and tools related to agricultural communications education is needed. New technologies have the potential to encourage innovative learning experiences; however, the ongoing challenge to educators will be to harness the technology for the good of the learner.

The contribution of selected instructional methods toward graduate student understanding of crisis communication

Providing quality instruction that meets students’ learning needs is an issue facing teachers of agriculture in higher education. A considerable amount of research has been devoted to assessing the effectiveness of various instructional methods, but the research is inconclusive in identifying a singular method of instruction that works well with all individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceived value of instructional methods in contribution towards their understanding of and confidence in risk and crisis communication content and practices. This study also compared students (N = 30) from two semesters to determine if new instructional methods incorporating new technology (i.e., Second Life) impacted the knowledge, comprehension, and self-confidence of students. In this descriptive survey research, the data revealed that students did not identify one singular instructional method as being most beneficial and influential, but found a combination of instructional methods influenced their self-confidence. No significant differences were found in changes in students’ content knowledge scores or end-of-course degree of

Participant Satisfaction Related to Social Presence in Agricultural Conversations using Twitter: Implications for Agricultural Communications

Communication has evolved from predominantly face-to-face environments to include greater use of computer-mediated environments such as social networking sites for sharing information, meeting new people, and learning. Aspects of computer-mediated communication related to perceptions of social presence impact the way communication occurs in un-mediated environments. This study examined perceived social presence, participant satisfaction, and relationships between social presence and satisfaction among Twitter users during streaming conversations. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that was created using qualtrics.com and made available to respondents over a one-week period. Two groups of survey respondents agreed with 10 of 21 and 13 of 21 statements about social presence and 10 of 13 and 12 of 13 statements about satisfaction. Findings indicated that positive and negative relationships exist between social presence and satisfaction. Participants felt they were in close virtual proximity with other participants, and social presence can be fostered through text-based variables, such as emoticons, to compensate for lack of nonverbal or face-to-face cues. Therefore, agricultural communicators should use techniques that foster social presence to support virtual relationships and circulate agricultural information through chatting, messaging, and blogging.