Publication
From presence to proximity in online higher education: students’ lived and desired relationships
| datacite.subject.fos | Ciências Sociais | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 04:Educação de Qualidade | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 10:Reduzir as Desigualdades | |
| dc.contributor.author | Aires, Luísa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-05T10:33:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-05T10:33:54Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-12-24 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This article examines how students experience and build relational ties in online higher education. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it analyses students’ lived and desired relationships across four domains: the online campus, the degree programme, teachers, and peers. One hundred and forty-four students completed an open-ended questionnaire. Their narratives informed the Relational Proximity Matrix (RPM), a framework used to map connections and distinguish transformative, functional, and residual modes of proximity. Findings indicate strong affective and supportive ties among peers, whereas interactions with teachers and the online campus are often formal or instrumental. The study concludes that relational proximity, rather than access alone, depends critically on recognition, reciprocity, and pedagogical care. The RPM offers a heuristic orientation that may inform educational design and support educators and institutions in cultivating practices that enhance relational quality. | eng |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The author gratefully acknowledges the participation of the students in this study. The author used ChatGPT (OpenAI, GPT-4, 2025) and Gemini (Google) to assist in refining and optimising the English (UK) language and academic coherence. The author has critically reviewed and takes full responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | FCT— Fundação Para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., through the project UIDB/04372/2020. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Aires, L. (2025/2026). From presence to proximity in online higher education: Students’ lived and desired relationships. Education Sciences, 16(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010028 (online first, 24/12/2025) | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3390/educsci16010028 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20618 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Online higher education | |
| dc.subject | Relational proximity | |
| dc.subject | Belonging | |
| dc.subject | Hermeneutic phenomenology | |
| dc.subject | Relational proximity matrix | |
| dc.title | From presence to proximity in online higher education: students’ lived and desired relationships | eng |
| dc.type | journal article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| person.familyName | Aires | |
| person.givenName | Luísa | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | F612-FFC3-1A2B | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-5649-276X | |
| person.identifier.rid | AAJ-7408-2020 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 56578173600 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 6952a68c-cc5c-4fbc-b40b-1e019e08830b | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 6952a68c-cc5c-4fbc-b40b-1e019e08830b |