Exploring indicators of teaching presence in online learning from older adult learners’ perspectives

ABSTRACT Teaching presence is critical to online student success. While progress has been made in conceptualising and researching teaching presence, little is known about how it is experienced by older adult online learners. This article explores teaching presence indicators for older adult learners (55+ years old) in online courses, using the conceptual framework of teaching presence, a dimension of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework as a guide. Interview data reveal that (a) not all indicators were experienced equally, (b) multiple representations exist for each of the perceived indicators, and (c) some indicators of the CoI framework were inaccessible or absent from the view of older adults, although they were considered important. This study contributes to advancing a positive learning experience for older adults in online learning. More specifically, it addresses how to design online learning for older adult learners from a teaching presence lens.