Hello Rob:
Very thoughtful insight. Thank you.
I would like to comment on your reflection on the teaching presence. I agree that without the face-to-face component, it can become somewhat abstract. However, in order to create the positive educational experience which is the core of the CoI, to me teaching presence plays a vital role in connecting the cognitive and social processes in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes.
If we look at the framework closely, we will notice that in the circle of teaching presence, it consists of a few elements that are crucial to achieving positive education experience. These element are “setting climate”, “regulate learning” and “engagement re. goals/direction”. My take-away from the CoI structure is that an authentic community of inquiry, which blended learning environment can very well create, requires all parties to fully engage and participate in the process. I have seen cases of “blended learning” that failed to create such learning environment largely due to the shallow understanding that blended learning is about technology. As long as the course content is online, the blended learning environment is created and the job is done. The CoI model is such an important concept that serves as an overall framework we can all refer to when tasked to deliver learning in a blended approach.
Thanks for sharing,
Lilian
