[Laurel BeatonParticipant]

Hi Mike, Norm and Lida,

I think we should have a separate thread devoted to Jardine! That would be something work whiling over! My own experience with examining curriculum theory has lead me back to some of the basics of teaching and learning. By that I don’t mean drill and kill but instead, what was at the heart of teaching and learning in the past? I think the communities of inquiry model helps teachers today to get back to what they know is at the heart of good teaching, to inquire together about the world. Jardine calls on teachers to be, “precisely what we hope our students will be: curious, knowledgeable, adventurous, well read, questioning, creative and daring in (our) intellectual ventures.” I think through the communities of inquiry model we as teachers whether online, face-to-face or blended get back to this by attending to social, cognitive and teaching presence.

Jardine, D. W. (2008). Preface. In P. Clifford, S. Friesen, D. W. Jardine (Eds.), Back to the Basics of Teaching and Learning: Thinking the World Together (pp. 223-242). New York: Routledge.

[Laurel BeatonParticipant]

The community of inquiry model is essential to blended learning because the combination of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence works to create a learning community which is grounded, cohesive and cognitively challenging leading to deep, rich, and lasting understandings. The communities of inquiry, as defined by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) provides a model in which interaction and reflection are sustained and lead to deep learning (as cited in Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2014, p. 134). Students working both online and face-to-face employ different approaches to learning dependent on the design, structure and expectation of that course. According to Garrison and Cleveland-Innes (2014), in deep learning, students explore content in order to create meaning and understanding. In the pursuit of teaching for understanding, deep learning has become the goal of both higher as well as K-12 education.

Social presence is a key element of the communities of inquiry model because knowledge is created by making connections through personal learning networks. These networks could be as personal and as individual as the students themselves; fluid and changing over time and within the given context of learning. Social presence in the community of inquiry model is one that acknowledges that learning is a social act and that in the digital era it can no longer be seen as an isolated activity. This connected approach to teaching and learning requires a shift to a personalization that will have far reaching implications for teacher training and ongoing professional learning. In a connectivist approach to learning, the teacher shifts from the content knowledge expert who gives information to students to the learning expert or lead learner in a classroom.

The communities of inquiry model focuses on cognitive presence that goes beyond simple interactions. This model understands that in order for students to gain deep and rich understandings they must engage in critical discourse. Cognitive presence in blended learning would come from not only the number of interactions either face-to-face or online but instead from the rich discourse between students, teacher, and the content through reading, writing, responding and reflecting.

Research has found a strong correlation between how students approached learning and the way in which the course was designed and delivered. The results show that “teaching presence contributed to the adoption of a deep approach to learning and that interaction by itself does not promote a deep approach to learning” (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2014, p. 140). Teacher presence through facilitated critical discourse is essential for meaningful learning that lead to deep understanding.

My distance education organization is currently looking at ways to better infuse the communities of inquiry model into our teaching. As a staff we are engaging in professional learning aimed to model the communities of inquiry approach. In this professional learning, we are examining social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence. As our own learning community, we model reading, reflection, discussion and opportunities for face-to-face collaboration. The hope is that through experiencing the power and potential of the communities of inquiry model for ourselves, teachers will better understand the value of engaging in these practices with their students. We hope that this “learning together” will lead to shifts in course design and delivery.

Garrison, D.R., Cleveland-Innes, M. (2005). Facilitating Cognitive Presence in Online Learning: Interaction is Not Enough. The American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 133-148

Vaughan, N.D., Cleveland-Innes, M. & Garrison, D.R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press. Available online at: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120229

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