Hej! 2020 has been the year when higher education institutions responded to the impact of Covid-19 in an unprecedented manner. Many teachers have had to re-think traditional teaching practices and adopt method better suited to the present situation. A wide range of teaching and learning models exist out there, but are we really aware of the options, and most importantly, do we know which method would work best? I do not know the answer, but it seems that the teacher’s role is changing towards being a designer for learning and facilitator. One of the most representative learning methods for implementing that practice is called “blended learning”.

Blended learning can be implemented following Garrison’s model of the “Community of Inquiry” [1]. The model comprises three main elements, namely: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. These are blended with each other, and all together constitute the overall educational experience.

Social presence is based upon the interpersonal relationships in an online community [2]. It includes the identification of the community, the creation of a trusting environment, communication between the members within the environment and, eventually, the development of social relationships. Social presence can be enhanced through smaller groups that work together for long periods, collaborative design, and embedded social spaces within the group structures. These yield positive effects on learning outcomes, such as higher completion rates an improved correlation between teaching and learning.

Teaching presence is the effort and activity around the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes in learning communities for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning [3]. Teaching presence includes the design of the community, as well as both facilitation and direct instruction.

Cognitive presence requires the development of a structured process, beginning from a triggering event to kickstart the learning process and ending up with answers to the original question from the learners [4]. That is achieved through a process of perception, deliberation, conception of ideas and eventually, action! 

In my opinion, blended learning is not just about blending the three elements above: the “teacher’s” role is also a blend between facilitator and instructor, the “learner’s” role is a blend between learner and teacher, teacher’s and learner’s presence can be a physical/digital blend; even pedagogical methods can be a blend. But no matter what the recipe is, we shall be aware of the ecosystem where learning is taking place. There will be unique cultural features, different country policies, discipline standards, pedagogical support or different tools and communication media. The only common feature is that an inclusive education experience should be envisaged in the end [5].

References

[1] Garrison, D.R. and Arbaugh, J.B., 2007. Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions. The Internet and higher education, 10(3), pp.157-172.

[2] Annand, D., 2011. Social presence within the community of inquiry framework. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(5), pp.40-56.

[3] Vaughan, N.D., Cleveland-Innes, M. and Garrison, D.R., 2013. Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Athabasca University Press.

[4] Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T. and Archer, W., 2001. Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of distance education, 15(1), pp.7-23.

[5] Moriña, A., 2017. Inclusive education in higher education: challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32(1), pp.3-17.