Students' learning experience: The importance of social presence in online learning toward non-traditional students (NTS)

Interactive classes offered using the internet as a means of delivering course content are a growing phenomenon. The students who enroll in distance education programs find out that they must learn on their own while the instructor is taking on a facilitator role. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs), this study aimed to explore and describe the students' learning experience through online learning for NTS (non-traditional students) who are identified based on age, employment, family and financial responsibilities associated with it. Meanwhile, five NTS students in this study are Indonesian migrant workers who are studying in Indonesia Open University, Taiwan branch. They are workers and students at the same time who want to get knowledge which will be used for their subsequent career. The findings of this qualitative study argued that there are several challenges and problems for students when they study through online learning. However, there are also some advantages of distance education toward NTS. In addition, this study also found that instructor presence is substantial to establish social presence in online learning in order to create success in distance education.