During the two weeks devoted to this topic, we ended up analyzing our ONL202 course in relation to the Community of Inquiry (CoI). First time I have heard such a name! We went through a webinar, books, notes and reflections from experts, websites, and a long list of other interesting material.
I was trapped by this topic and still digesting it. What is the Community of Inquiry?
Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) define this theoretical framework that assist in designing learning experiences for the online environment. The central part, the target, is the educational experience. A rewarding educational experience can be achieved by developing three elements (perhaps four): social (and immerse on it, the fourth one, emotional), cognitive and teaching presence (see figure below).
Teaching presence is the design and facilitation of the educational process. I did not know about “facilitators” before ONL202 and if I would like to convert one of my courses in something resembling ONL202, I will need to evolve from a teacher into a facilitator. A facilitator set the boundaries, the expectations, coach and encourage the students, plus sharing knowledge.
Cognitive presence is the extent to which the students are able to construct meaning through discussions and feedback. Clearly, to develop critical thinking, active and engaging activities are needed. Activities must be challenging, collaborative and require thinking and elaboration. Examples of real life, where to apply the developed (or developing) knowledge are of great help.
Last, but not least, social presence is the ability of the participants to identify with the community. I saved this presence for last, because for me it tastes as a dessert! During ONL202 I was reflecting in my own engagement with the course. “Why I am so engaged that I try to avoid any overlapping activity?” Even though I know that I should attend to 50% of the meetings, I was attending all of them and missed only half of one meeting. Why I was at least fast reading the content before the meeting? Because I developed a sense of belonging so strong that, I needed to take part of the workload of the community, a shared workload. This was new and a strong driving force for learning. Social presence includes emotional presence. Humor, fun, lots of work in a social comfortable space, a safe space I should say, is a very fertile field to seed knowledge and get the best out of it.
I think that building an online or a blended course with teaching, cognitive, social and emotional presence is a huge work. Until now, I focused mostly on the content of my courses, such as Organic Chemistry now at Karlstads Universitet. However, it is not only about the content, it is how the content is reaching the participant. For me, it was a new experience to uptake the content by building a learning community, digesting while creating, debating and critically thinking. And it went well!
References:
- Photocredit: Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash
- CoI Figure: File Licenced under Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Community_of_inquiry_model.svg#filelinks
- Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.
- Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Edmonton: AU Press. Chapter 1 “The Community of Inquiry Conceptual framework”.
