[Robert BuckParticipant]

Osaed

Thank you for your response to the questions. In one of other classes we saw a brief presentation of a program out of the USA called Quest Atlantis which is uses 3D modelling to engaged students in a variety of educational tasks. The program was created by Sasha Barab who I believe is a professor out of ASU. His website is http://sashabarab.com/rsrch_qa.html as well here is a link to a YouTube Video which explains the project as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad6gLQN0tBY

Hope this helps

Rob

[Robert BuckParticipant]

Good Morning Leslie

Thank you for your reply. I am interested to see what your organization results will be when the COI model is implemented. You will have keep us posted throughout the term. Your comments about not being involved with a “true blended” model for course interests me. I have often thought whether I have being in blended learning environments before I entered the MA program at the University of Calgary. I believe that i have had a lot of these blended learning opportunities whether it is participating in a web series/webnair, reviewing past presentations, completing online surveys etc. and many of the things that we get involved with as professionals for our professional development can be still considered learning.

Good insights and reflection on the topic

Rob

[Robert BuckParticipant]

Good Afternoon Everyone

I hope that the weather is pleasant where you happen to be. I would first like to thank everyone so far that has participated in this discussion forum. A lot important insight and discussion has been created as well some links to other research and activities that people are currently involved in. As with many things in education, we all have different interpretations of what COI means to them and how they integrate those ideas within their blended learning environments. As well as discussion by Vernon where he talked about the frustrations of instructors not returning emails. From my personal experience, as an instructor who has switched from a classroom environment to an online environment, I try to answer the emails within at least 24 hours. However, in times when not available to answer an email in a timely manner, I have setup a discussion forum where learners can post their questions to the larger audience with the hope that they will get their answer somehow whether it is from another participant or myself. 9 times out of ten, the learners usually get the answer before I get a chance to response. This is concept of being the guide on side which as well as generated some discussion as well. Hopefully educators that teach in an online environment are not completely absent from the learning experience. Their presence still has to be evident through good design, interaction and direct instruction. Therefore I do not believe that even if courses do go online that the evidence of teaching presence must be there or learning will not happen.

Thanks again the discussion and have a good rest of the weekend

Rob

[Robert BuckParticipant]

Good Afternoon Michael

Thank for replying to the questions in our discussion forum. It seems like a lot of discussion is being generated over teaching presence. The role of an online instructor does change from being “the sage on the stage” to “the guide on the side”Being the facilitator of the course can be done through careful planning and design, as well as participating in the virtual classroom environment. The teacher still must be available not absent from the virtual learning environment. Lowenthal and Parscal (2008) describe strategies on how teachers can improve their presence online to increase student learning.

Have a good weekend

Rob

Lowenthal, P. R., & Parscal, T. (2008). Teaching presence.The Learning Curve, 3(4), 1-2, 4.

http://patricklowenthal.com/publications/TeachingPresenceFacilitatesLearning.pdf

[Robert BuckParticipant]

Good Morning Norm and Lillian

Thank you being the first two to contribute to this discussion forum. I do realize that focus is teaching not the teacher however how can you have one without the other whether its is an online environment or classroom environment. I do agree the Maori concept of ako as I often do tell my learners that I learn just as much from them and that learning is a shared responsibility amongst all the participants. However I believe and it is supported by literature that it has to do with good design and organization of the content which strengthens the teaching presence (Nagel and Kotzé, 2010).

Nagel, L., and Kotzé, T., G. (2010). Supersizing e-learning: What a CoI survey reveals about teaching presence in a large online class. Internet and Higher Education 13, 45-51. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.12.001

Have a good day

Rob

[Robert BuckParticipant]

I hope that everyone had a good week. As Norm has mentioned in the mass email, I will be the moderator for the discussion topic this week on the Community of Inquiry.

My reflection on the questions:

1. Why is the COI an important part of blended learning?

The Community of Inquiry model is an important part of blended learning because we need to think of the overall objective of the model is to provide an educational experience. The education experience needs to be a positive experience with outcomes and objectives that are measurable and obtainable. When we design a program using a blended learning approach we are integrating both the human presence (face-to-face, classroom environment) with an online presence (discussion forums, blogs) to create that educational experience.

2. The COI framework is made of three elements social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. How would you implement these elements in your practice and design of learning materials.

Social Presence: For me this implies that we all share a connection whether we are in the realm of the online environment or in a classroom receiving face to face instruction. As human beings we are social creatures and we need to have a connection with other human beings. When teach and design courses, I attempt to bring that social aspect to my planning and delivery of a course. When I first started to use a blended approach to teaching, it was more or less a space that I could keep files for the class in one spot. It was not until recently that started to experiment a bit more with the blended model and have started to include discussion forums as part of the learning environment. I find that forums gives me the opportunity to see what my learners are thinking and having problems with so that I can assist them in their learning.

Cognitive Presence: Here we are looking at meaning and reflection of the lesson. Again, as an educator, I am always thinking about how a lesson, test, or assignment went and I am always thinking of ways of retooling those lessons, tests, and assignments. But do I reflect and try to find a meaning of a lesson that has been delivered to me as a learner. I probably do but I do not know if I do it often enough. It is something that I need to do more often and with courses that I am taking this term, I am now blogging which in itself a form of critical reflection and meaning.

Teaching Presence: When I think about this element, I cannot help to think about what is my role as the educators in the COI. I find this element abstract because I am trying to envision what teaching presence would look like in a blended model. As an educator it has been told to me numerous times that if you teach to the objectives and outcomes you will have a successful learning environment. But is this true? Yes, but partly because we also have to an effective presenter and be able to facilitate learning.

3. Thinking about the last question (#2) can you briefly talk about an online/distance/blended learning course that you have taken that fully incorporates these elements or if yourself have developed and taught courses using a COI framework. What did learn about the experience and what would you do differently?

I am new to online/blended courses both as an educator and learner however I feel that an ideal course or program would incorporate those elements seamlessly into the instructional design. In the courses that I taught my take home message is try not to reinvent the wheel. Technology especially technology associated with a blended learning environment should supplement a course not overwhelm it. Use it as a tool and with any tool, if it is misused it will eventually hurt you. We have to be careful not overwhelm our learners and ourselves.

I am looking forward the discussion. Have a good week.

Rob

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